Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3 6 2026
Don’t Bury the Gift
Why does God give spiritual gifts?
The answer may surprise you – One word: LOVE.
“If I have prophecy… if I have faith… but do not have love, I am nothing.”
(1 Corinthians 13)
Gifts are not about the spotlight. They are about service. God distributes gifts so the body functions properly. Imagine if every part of your body were an eye. Or only a hand.
Paul says, “How strange a body would be if it had only one part!” (1 Corinthians 12:19)
You need others AND they need you, whatever condition you think you’re in.
Now let me make this uncomfortable… in a good way.
Jesus told a story in Matthew 25 about talents. Two servants invested what they were given.
One buried it. The master called that servant wicked and lazy. It is a sin to waste what God has entrusted. Not because God is harsh … but because wasted gifts mean unmet needs.
Somewhere, someone needs:
Your encouragement.
Your discernment.
Your leadership.
Your generosity.
Your mercy.
And if you withhold it —
The body suffers. Your brothers and sisters suffer…God’s children suffer.
Let me share a widely circulated story about Nelson Mandella that speaks to a number of gifts equated from one experience:
When Mandela met the man who used to urinate on his head while in prison
Nelson Mandela: “After I became president, I asked some members of my close protection to stroll with me in the city and have lunch at one of its restaurants. We sat in one of the downtown restaurants and all of us asked for some sort of food.”
“After a while, the waiter brought us our requests and I noticed that there was someone sitting in front of my table waiting for food”.
I then told one of the soldiers: go and ask that person to join us with his food and eat with us. The soldier went and asked the man so. The man brought up his food and sat by my side and began to eat. His hands were trembling constantly until everyone had finished their food and the man went. The soldier said to me: The man was apparently quite sick. His hands trembled as he ate!”
“No, not at all,” said Mandela.
“This man was the guard of the prison where I was jailed.
“Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I used to scream and ask for a little water.
“The very same man used to come every time and urinate on my head instead”.
“So I found him scared, trembling, expecting me to reciprocate now, at least in the same way, either by torturing him or imprisoning him as I am now the president of the state of South Africa.”
“But this is not my character nor part of my ethics”.
“The mentality of retaliation destroys states, while the mentality of tolerance builds nations”.
I say, treat others well because no one knows tomorrow.
FORGIVENESS OVER REVENGE
That was not just character. That was a gift expressed.
The mentality of revenge destroys nations. The mentality of forgiveness builds them.
What if mercy is your gift? What if courage is your gift? What if teaching is your gift? And what if someone’s spiritual survival depends on you using it? All of those became apparent in Mandela’s example above.
You will stand before God one day. And He will not ask,
“Did you have the most impressive gift?”
He will ask, “What did you do with what I gave you?”
“What you are is God’s gift to you.”
But what you become —
how you surrender,
how you serve,
how you sacrifice —
That becomes your gift to Him.
Don’t bury it.
Fan it. Use it. Multiply it.
And one day —hear the words:
“Well done.” I think you get the point and Gods lesson.
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Lauren Daigle Hold on to me.
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