Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
9 30 2026
Have you ever coveted someone else’s gift?
For much of my Christian life, I served as a worship leader or as part of a worship team. Singing was more than something I did. It became part of how I expressed my love for God…and, if I am honest, part of how I understood myself.
Then COVID pneumonia in 2020 took most of my singing voice. But God gave me my life.
For the most part, I have come to terms with that loss. When someone loses one sense, the others often become more sensitive. I believe something similar happens spiritually. When one expression of our usefulness is diminished or changes,
God awakens us to other gifts we may have overlooked.
Recently, I was in worship while the leader was doing an incredible job. I found myself somewhere between impressed, grateful…and jealous. Then I heard the words inside my head:
I covet your voice. Almost immediately, I heard something louder in my spirit:
“You are not your voice. Worship is not just in your voice”.
That stopped me. I knew that… but it was a stark reminder to me.
A singing voice is a beautiful gift, but more so than kindness? Or mercy? Worship was never intended to be confined to a song, a microphone, a platform, or even a sound. Worship is expressed through your heart, your soul, your obedience, your forgiveness, your kindness, your service, your reverence, and your willingness to surrender yourself to God in the smallest of things.
Worship is not merely the prayer you speak. It is the time you give to prayer. It is your intercession for someone who may never know you prayed. It is your willingness to love people the way Jesus loves them. It is obeying God when obedience costs you something.
My singing voice had changed, but God had not silenced me.
We change with every birthday. Why are we surprised?
Maybe we’re just dealing with disappointment.
Yours and my voice are powerful tools in God’s hands. We use them to encourage believers, speak truth, confront darkness, tell others what Christ has done, and sometimes lovingly warn someone who is walking toward destruction. “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (Proverbs 27:5). Paul tells us to teach and admonish one another with wisdom (Colossians 3:16).
David declared, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters” (Psalm 22:22). When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He did not merely think about Scripture. He answered the enemy by using His voice, saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4).
There is power in a voice surrendered to God…even if that voice can no longer sing as it once did.
There is both life and death in the power of the tongue.
The danger begins when we confuse our gift with our identity. We can become so attached to the way God once used us that we fail to recognize how He wants to use us now. We may even look at someone else’s gift and quietly wonder why God did not give us what He gave them.
But another person’s gift does not diminish yours.
Every gift has a different sound, but every gift can become an expression of surrender, love, and worship. God distributes spiritual gifts for the common good…not for personal recognition (1 Corinthians 12:7). Wisdom, faith, teaching, leadership, mercy, healing, encouragement, prophecy, and other gifts are given so that Christ’s body may be strengthened (Romans 12:6–8).
Scripture tells us to “eagerly desire the greater gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31). That does not mean coveting another person’s place, platform, or recognition. It means hungering for whatever God chooses to give us so that we can become a greater blessing to others.
Are we hungry enough to ask? Are we willing to search? Or have we become so busy that unless
God places a gift directly in our lap, we never pursue it?
Some gifts are ignored because we have never recognized them. Others remain buried because using them would require courage, sacrifice, or humility. A gift can be neglected, misunderstood, or treated as though
it were never given simply because we refuse to use it.
It is natural to enjoy being noticed when we do something well. Praise can cause any of us to swell a little. But as we mature in Christ, we begin to understand that the gift was always His.
It came from Him, operates through Him, and ultimately belongs to Him.
And some of life’s greatest joys come when the gift is given away.
We see it in the face of a toddler who lights up because we stopped and gave them our attention. We see it when encouragement reaches someone ready to give up, when truth redirects a wandering friend, or when compassion reminds a hurting person that God has not forgotten them. That is worship.
Perhaps the gift you are grieving was never the whole of your calling. Perhaps God is not finished with your voice. He may simply be teaching you that your voice is larger than a song.
My voice may no longer reach the notes it once did. But it can still proclaim Christ. It can still pray, encourage, teach, warn, bless, and tell people what Jesus has done for me.
You are not your voice. But when your entire life is surrendered to God,
your life becomes a voice…and your life becomes worship.
What gift have you allowed to define your identity more than Christ does?
Could God be asking you to release what you once had so you can discover how He desires to use you now?
Father, forgive me for coveting what You have given someone else or believing that my usefulness depends upon one gift. Help me recognize everything You have placed within me and surrender it for Your glory. Let my words, my service, my obedience, and my entire life become an act of worship. Give me the courage to use my voice—whatever sound it now makes—to build others up and proclaim what You have done. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you for spending these few minutes with me today. My prayer is that these devotionals don’t simply give you something to think about, but draw you into a deeper love for Jesus Christ and His community.
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