Most days I send out a letter by email with some tips and resources. This is the one from July 19th, 2022.
This past Sunday, I went to church as I often do on Sundays, and I was surprised to find that the lectionary reading echoed something that I’ve been saying on my Morning Motivation podcast for a while now.
I talk a lot about how everyone has been given particular talents and passions. By pursuing those gifts, one will find purpose, joy, meaning, and, quite likely, financial success.
Check this out:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
In terms of Godly gifts and service to a congregation, it says basically the same thing. Everyone has been given unique gifts.
It goes on to explain that all those gifts are important and need to be appreciated because, like body parts, each member of the church brings something different.
This isn’t about religion or believing in God. It’s about the fact that this idea that everyone has their own unique gifts goes back thousands of years.
(But if you do believe in the Bible, that gives it a bit more weight.)
It’s the same for a company, a community, a family, or an entire economy.
Everyone is given particular gifts, and if one does not share those gifts, then everyone suffers.
If someone is meant to be a tramua coach but languishes in minimum wage fast food work, then there are people who need their help who don’t get it.
If someone is meant to be an artist but works a deadend office job, then the world is poorer.
If someone is meant to be a one-on-one coach but spends all their energy building courses because that’s how they’re told to make money, the people who need them miss them.
What is your gift?
Are you embracing it?
Are you sharing it with the world?
Or are you making excuses for why it can’t be shared?
If you’re still trying to figure it out, or you know someone who is, I encourage you to invite them to my “How the heck does anyone make a living in 2022?” workshop on August 3rd at 6 PM Eastern.
-Michael Whitehouse
The Guy Who Knows a Guy