Week 1 | Know What You Do Best And Do It More

Everybody is born with different strengths. Nobody gets everything, but we all get something.

Some people are long, tall, and can see over and around everyone.

Some people are short, quick, and can easily get around others.

Some can shoot it well, some have a great arm, some can hit the ball out of the park, and some can run like the wind without getting winded.

Our job is to figure out what our gifts, strengths, and talents are and put them to good use in our lives.

You were fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14). You were given special gifts and talents to serve one another and to bless the world. The world needs you and your strengths because no one can do what you do the way that you do it (Romans 12:6-8).

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

Appreciate and embrace your strengths.

Know What Your Strengths Are
Research shows that just talking and/or thinking about our strengths releases two chemicals in our bodies called endorphins and dopamine. They make us feel better and more energized. They also help us learn and perform better. Thinking about and talking about your strengths can make you happier and more hopeful. When you know what your strengths are, you can begin the process of using them to serve and bless the world.

What are your top three strengths? What are three things that you feel comfortable or confident with or about? What are three things that you know you can do better than most people? If you can't think of three, ask someone close to you.

1 - I ____________________________________________________________

2 - I ____________________________________________________________

3 - I ____________________________________________________________

Meditate On And Think About Your Strengths
Our thoughts control our actions and thinking the right things are very important. For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). In her book, The Path, author Laurie Beth Jones wrote that physicists are now aware of subatomic particles that hover in and around everything that exists, and that one characteristic of these particles is that they seem to take on the properties or expectations of the scientists studying them. We are currently and constantly creating the future by what we say and think - whether we know it or not!

That is why the battlefield of our minds is the most important battle that we fight. What we think we become with action and time.

Meditating on and thinking about your strengths will help you grow them and get more out of them. We can also look at the Matthew Effect. Matthew 25:29 says, “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

Know what you are great at. Know what your strengths are. Never forget them by thinking about and meditating on them daily.

Use Your Strengths People have several times more potential for growth when they invest their time and energy in developing, growing, and using their strengths. Ask yourself, "Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?"

You were born special with special gifts, talents, and strengths. - use them! People who know their strengths, lead with their strengths, and people who have the opportunity to do what they do best every day are happier, more hopeful, more engaged in what they do, and perform better.

Know what you do best and find opportunities, today, this week, and forever, to do what you do best more.

This Week

1 - Write down your three greatest strengths. Read them every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to sleep.

2 - Find ways to use your strengths, as much as possible, this week. The best way to grow something is to use it.

3 - Use your strengths to bless someone or to make someone's life better.

Pray: I pray that I become aware of my greatest strengths and that I am able to use my strengths to make this world a better place. Help me to find and use my strengths, in Jesus's name, amen.

Bible Verses:

- I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (Psalm 139:14).

- We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:6-8).

- You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

- For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

- For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them (Matthew 25:29).

For a Google doc version of this, click here: Week 1 Devotional | Strengths

References:

Rath, Tom. (2007). "Strengths Finder 2.0." New York: Gallup Press.