by Travis Moore
Every once in a while, one of my children will ask me to recall my favorite gift of all time. Interestingly enough, my initial response is usually a material item that I received as a kid. This may seem strange, since it’s been a few years about 25 years since I’ve even been a kid, and have certainly been given many things since then. Let me take you back:
It was Christmas morning in 1986. Well, it was technically morning. Mom didn’t consider it morning until it was after 6am and she had some breakfast going. The red glare from the numbers on my New York Giants alarm clock seemed to taunt me as the minutes slowly clicked forward. Current time: 3am. The anticipation of this Christmas morning was greater than others because of a particular gift that I hoped to receive. I first laid eyes on it during a well-placed commercial during a Saturday morning cartoon-watching session, and I had been thinking about it ever since.
After what seemed like an eternity, I checked the clock time again. Those bright red digital numbers shined back at me as my anticipation grew: 3:04am. I could not wait any longer, and decided that it would not hurt to take a peek, so I crept out of my room and into the living room for a quick glance. There it was, in all it’s shiny glory: Voltron! If you are unfamiliar, Voltron was a cartoon about five robot lions that could join together to form an even bigger robot, and it was awesome! It was easily my favorite gift as a kid, but why? Why has that gift stuck with me for so long, but not any of the other presents that I was given during that period?
How would you respond if some asked about your most favorite gift? It’s likely that you have your own version of a “Voltron gift.” If you also grew up in the 1980s, maybe it was a Cabbage Patch Kid, a Pound Puppy, or a Lite Bright. Maybe a Stretch Armstrong or a Red Rider BB gun like that kid who shot his eye out. Perhaps, since you are reading this in a church communication, you went with the Sunday school answer and thought about the gift of Christ’s death on the cross. This article is not about that particular gift, or the best material present you have ever been given.
As a born-again believers in Christ we are given one or more spiritual gifts. Through these gifts we are equipped in a variety of ways to do His work. After much prayer and several spiritual gifts test throughout the years, I have determined that my most prominent spiritual gifts are teaching, mercy, and administration (or leadership). Those first two are reflections of my personality. I love teaching biblical truths, content, and principles (as well as some US history). After a little life-reflection, I can see ways in which God has used me in capacities that directly related to the spiritual gifts that He gave to me.
For the sake of word count, I am going to focus on how God has used one of these gifts in my life.
I first felt a call towards teaching while studying English at VCU. It’s interesting how God calls us to do things but also allows us to not do those things. Even though I felt a calling I selfishly ignored opportunities to use my gift because I knew how many hours teachers worked and the amount money they earned. Instead, I chose to focus on the English degree and a corporate writing job in Richmond. It did not take long for the emptiness to set in, and found myself once again gravitating towards a career in which I could use one of my spiritual gifts. As many of you know, I did make my way into Christian education as a teacher and an administrator for many years. Teaching has provided an avenue for me to use a God-gifted strength to share the gospel message to students in classrooms, villagers in Africa, homeless communities in Costa Rica, and youth in my community.
Spiritual gifts are an amazing way for God to equip Christians with unique strengths for the purpose of sharing His message and growing His kingdom. If you are a believer in Christ and have not yet explored where God has best equipped you, then I challenge you to do so. Aside from salvation itself, it was the best gift I have ever received; I guess that makes Voltron a distant third.