You're Not Just Holy Pipe

Have you heard or read something like the following? “When God gives you a special gift, it's not for you. It's for others.”

Well, pardon me, but does that mean that when God gave me a wife, she wasn’t for me but for others? When God gave me children, they weren’t for me but for others? When God healed me, it wasn’t for me but for others? Am I just a piece of pipe, something for good things to pass through, hardly noticed by the carrier? Is that what I am? Of course not.

I’ve heard people and teachers say this before as a way to bestow humility upon us, inducing us to sort of drape it about ourselves as protection against presumed tight-fisted stinginess and selfishness. But I think it goes too far. I think God gives us gifts for our pleasure and joy, which pleases Him. Do those gifts end up benefitting others? Oftentimes they do, especially gifts of the Spirit, which are manifestations of God for the benefit of all. However, that doesn’t reveal the limitation of the original intent—only for others—but the scope of the affect.

I think you should fully enjoy what He gives you! Good things from God are to be appreciated, not fretted over out of concern for why God gave it to you or where it’s going: “How shall I, God’s white-plastic, PVC pipe (or galvanized or copper, depending upon your age), how shall I avoid becoming clogged-up with God’s blessings, and ensure that His truly intended receive what only passes through me?”

Knowing gifts are from Him, you won’t hoard them and treasure them to yourself, somehow diminishing the Gift-giver through fleshly and uncharacteristic selfishness. That won’t happen because it’s not your nature to do that. What’s natural to you and by design in the New Covenant is to enjoy God’s grace for you. He takes care of the results in leading you by the Spirit, and not by some assumed template we have to strap on for each other in order to guarantee that others get what God intended. See? It’s almost like that’s by design--God with you and in you, and God working through you. That’s pretty good, isn’t it? Yes, it is. And it’s because you’re not just holy pipe.

(This is a transcript of yesterday’s video, “You’re Not Just Holy Pipe,” and is for those who might rather read than watch. To see the video, click: http://youtu.be/jCYin6Q8Jvo.)