Various Gifts According to the Grace Given to Us
Various Gifts According to the Grace Given to Us
Thus the Apostle listed various kinds of gifts that God has granted to people. He said:
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us: whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us use it in ministering; or he who teaches, in teaching; or he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, with diligence” (Romans 12:6–8).
Each one according to his gift, and all are members of one another…
On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Lord gave us an example of how He embraces everyone.
Around the Lord Jesus, Moses and Elijah shone, and the nature of each of them was revealed.
Elijah was celibate, while Moses was married to more than one woman. Yet both stood around Christ. Elijah was fiery in temperament, whereas Moses “was very meek, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
Around Christ stood Elijah, representing the life of solitude on the mountain, and Moses the leader who guided hundreds of thousands of people. Elijah, who brought down fire from heaven to consume the fifty (2 Kings 1), and Moses, who endured those who sinned and interceded for them (Exodus 32).
Each of them was transfigured in light, despite the difference in their natures.
The Lord used Moses just as He used Elijah. He did not change the nature of either of them, but sanctified it and used it for His Kingdom.
God could have created the entire world from one single type, or at one single level—but He did not, because goodness lies in diversity.
In the world there are different ages. There is diversity of gender: male and female. There is diversity in appearance, intelligence, and gifts. Likewise, there is diversity in responsibilities, according to what God has apportioned to each person.
Every person can please God according to the kind of gift he has been given.
One pleases Him through a life of contemplation, another through a life of service. One is given a heart full of love, another is given tremendous energy for work. This one contributes to building the Kingdom through his affection, and that one through his effort. Both are necessary for the Kingdom of God, which delights in both alike.
They do not differ, but rather diversify, and each completes the other.
Two people meet together, and one says to the other: We are two members in one body. I am an eye, and you are an ear. I hear through you, and you see through me. I am your eye and you are my ear. We are not strangers to one another nor different, but as the Apostle said: “members of one another.”
From here arises the bond of love among the members of the one body.
No member can dispense with another. All work in interconnection, cooperation, and integration. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Thus are all believers in the Church, bound together by the bond of the one body.
Each one works according to the role that God has entrusted to him, and according to the abilities God has given him. He does not change his role, but perfects it. And on the Last Day, God will judge each person according to his heart, his good intention, the measure of his determination, will, sincerity, and effort in perfecting his role.
By this we are saved from criticizing others and judging them, and from attempting to change their positions.
The woman who poured the fragrant oil on the feet of Christ was criticized by the disciples, who said, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor” (Matthew 26:8–9). The disciples were indignant and reproached her, because they wanted her to act according to their own mentality and feelings. But the Lord said to them in rebuke, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always” (Matthew 26:10–11).
Here He judged the woman’s action according to her own feelings and understanding, not according to the disciples’ understanding—according to the measure of faith that was given to her.
Our fault here is that we want to abolish the personalities of others and make them think with our minds and feel as we feel. Otherwise, we criticize them severely. Certainly, there are fixed standards for good and evil, to discern what should and should not be done—we are not speaking about that now. Rather, we are speaking about two actions, both of which may be good and both acceptable before God. Yet some may be enthusiastic about one, and others about the other. There is no error in this; the error lies in that those who are enthusiastic about one direction criticize or attack the other.
We give an example of this: the life of contemplation and the life of service.
Some are inclined toward the life of celibacy and monasticism, while others toward the life of marriage and priestly service. Both are good, acceptable, and beneficial paths for building the Kingdom, “as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
Therefore, let not those who chose the path of service say: Why do the monks sit idly in monasteries without any useful work? Let them come down and serve, for the Church is in need of service. Nor should monks say: Why do these servants get lost in a whirl of busyness in which they forget themselves or lose themselves? Is not what Mary chose better than what Martha chose? (Luke 10:40–42).
How beautiful it is to leave each person to walk according to the gift God has granted him.
To walk according to his own nature and the components of his personality, as long as he does not deviate from the path of goodness or from the commandments of God. Here we mean goodness in its general comprehensive sense, not according to each person’s own limited concept.
We address this advice also to spiritual guides and fathers of confession:
It is not good for them to make their spiritual children in confession mere replicas of themselves, coloring them with their own inclinations. Rather, they should guide the penitent to the path of goodness, taking into account his nature, personality, and what God has granted him.
If a confessor loves silence, and a socially inclined person confesses to him, is it permissible for him to lead him into silence, imprison his social personality, and prevent him from expressing himself according to his nature in doing good?
We err when we confine goodness within a narrow circle that it cannot exceed.
The circles of goodness are many and countless before those with broad hearts.
A narrow mind is full of criticism and rebuke, because it sees goodness only within a narrow circle that its understanding cannot exceed. But a great and expansive mind tries to understand the viewpoints of others and to uncover their intentions. Here it meets others, opens to them and they open to it. They may differ in means, yet fully agree in principle and goal
Thus we are members of one another, completing one another:
The firmness of the father is necessary, and the tenderness of the mother is necessary, and each completes the other. The good mother does not criticize the father for his firmness, nor does the good father criticize the mother for her kindness. Through the cooperation of her loving heart with his organizing will, the upbringing of the children is completed in a sound manner, combining tenderness and firmness.
If we understand this, we will live in peace with one another.
And if we understand that the grace of God is the One who distributes gifts, and that the grace of God is good in its distribution, then we will not criticize others for what God has granted them. Nor will we grumble over what the Lord has granted us, asking Him to change it, nor will we covet what belongs to others.
What matters is not the type of work you do, but the extent to which you perfect that work.
Therefore, do not ask God to change your gifts and responsibilities and give you what He has given to others. Rather, be completely faithful in what God has placed in your hands. If the Lord sees that it is good for you to change your position, He will do so, because He is the Giver of good things.
Joseph the righteous did not grumble over his position as a servant in the house of Potiphar, but was faithful in his work; thus God prospered his way and was with him. And when God wished to grant Joseph a greater responsibility in ruling Egypt, He did so at the appropriate time and in the manner He deemed suitable, according to His divine wisdom.
Do not say, then: If I were in such-and-such a position, I would have done this and that…
Rather, perfect what is in your hand, and do not covet the responsibility of another, nor desire to be a head like others. A collection of heads cannot form a healthy, complete body—there must also be the rest of the members.
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Do not object, saying: My gifts are limited. If I were multi-gifted like many of the fathers and heroes of faith, I would have done this and that…
No. History has recorded the names of great saints who had only one gift.
Saint Julius of Aqfahs, for example: we did not hear that he was a theologian, a teacher, an ascetic, or a wandering monk. Rather, he had the gift of caring for the bodies of the holy martyrs, preserving them and writing their biographies. Thus he left the Church a great legacy: the relics of the martyrs and their lives. And when God saw his faithfulness in this one gift, He also granted him to be a martyr.
Another saint such as Simon the Tanner: we did not hear that he had any gift of administration, teaching, monasticism, or speaking in tongues. But he had the gift of answered prayer that moves mountains, and through it history immortalized him.
Other saints were granted the gift of mercy, such as Saint Serapion the Great, who sold his Gospel to give its price to the poor, and also sold his garment, returning to his cell naked. Likewise, the saint who sold all that he owned to give to the poor, and when he found nothing left to give, sold himself as a slave and gave away the price of himself.
We may also include in this category the teacher Ibrahim Al-Gohary, who was a layman, married, and a government employee. Yet God granted him the gift of giving, through which he benefited the poor and built churches and monasteries.
Nor should we fail to mention in this group Saint Anba Abram, Bishop of Fayoum, who entered history through the virtue of mercy. When God saw his faithfulness in this gift, He granted him another gift—working miracles—in order to complete the work of mercy toward those in need of it.
We also mention in this group Saint Tabitha of Joppa, who made tunics and garments and gave them to widows. The widows wept over her when she died, and she was deemed worthy to be raised from the dead by Saint Peter the Apostle (Acts 9).
All these did not have multiple gifts, but rather one gift, to which they were faithful. Through it they attained what those with multiple gifts attained, or as a result of their faithfulness in that one gift, God allowed their gifts to multiply.
Indeed, many saints are remembered in history for only one deed.
Joseph of Arimathea, for example: history recorded of him only that he took the body of the Lord, wrapped it, and laid it in his own tomb (Matthew 27:57–60). He was neither priest nor teacher, but a layman and a rich man. Then Scripture fell silent regarding his life.
Obadiah, in the days of King Ahab the idolater, used to take the prophets threatened with death, hide them, and provide for them. We know of no other deed of his (1 Kings 18:7, 13).
Others, unknown to history, had the gift of copying manuscripts in a time when printing was unknown. They copied the Holy Scriptures and Church books, and thus accomplished a great work.
Others dedicated their homes to be churches, such as Mary the mother of Mark (Acts 12:12), Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:3, 5), and Nymphas in Laodicea (Colossians 4:15), and others like them.
Therefore, a person should not seek the abundance of gifts or extraordinary gifts, but it is sufficient for him to be faithful and sincere in what God has granted him.
Let him be faithful to his talent, no matter how small, and thus enter into the joy of his Lord.
A woman, for example, who was born female: she should not think beyond what she ought, like women in Western countries who seek ordination to the priesthood. Rather, it is sufficient for her to raise her children well, care for her home and husband, and be pure in heart. This is her talent, and through it she enters the Kingdom. You too, discover your gift and be faithful to it.
Do not say: I do not have the gift of knowledge or teaching, nor can I delve into books, preach, or serve. If you cannot do that, you can deepen your prayers, and your prayers will accomplish more than what preachers accomplish. Thus was Saint Simon the Tanner, and thus were our monastic fathers. Or work in visitation, and if God has given you love for the poor and care for them, say to yourself:
This is a great gift. For “pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
One of the serious faults is that a person forgets what is in his hand and searches for what he does not have, saying: I have no gift!
Is this not ingratitude toward God’s gifts? Is it not walking contrary to the divine will, unfaithfulness in little, and failure to discover our gifts?
God has not left anyone without a gift. Rather, there are many kinds of gifts. Wise leadership in administration, care, or hearing confessions should discover these gifts and direct them.
It is not spiritually sound to compare and rank gifts.
You cannot say about the body which is better for a person: the heart or the brain. Both are necessary and essential for life. If one is lost, life cannot continue. The heart should not say: I wish I were a brain; nor should the brain say: I wish I were a heart. Rather, the healthy state is that each be faithful to its work and cooperate with the other. Thus are all the members of the body, that is, the Church—each according to his gift.
The book The Forty Stories tells us of a saint who worked as a doorkeeper in the monastery of Anba Bishoy. Through his kind reception, cheerfulness, and gentle word, he was able to attract many to faith and monasticism, to the extent that people loved the monastery because of him. This monk-doorkeeper became, in his generation, the most important figure in the monastery because of the virtue he perfected.
Therefore, do not covet a specific gift, for it may not benefit you.
Or the enemy of good may exploit this desire to harm you. Rather, walk according to the portion of gifts God has allotted to you.
God in His heaven, for the building of His Kingdom, uses all the gifts He has distributed in all their diversity. He does not change them, but sanctifies them and blesses them.
