Gifts. Talents. We use these terms interchangeably, no? But are they actually synonymous? I don’t think so. I don’t believe they have the same meanings. I was watching a basketball game with my father and making an analogy, he said, one player was talented and the other is gifted and I thought to myself, and then asked, what is the difference? Very quickly, he said one comes from you and the other comes from God and for the first time, I saw the difference between two words that I’d never realized weren’t the same. Now, he wasn’t suggesting that any individual can give themselves talent, but rather, some people believe they are to credit for their talents and their success – no one else, least of all God. Usually, I work my way to the lesson and to the wisdom, but I begin with it to allow you to wrestle with it, and process it. But also, so that I can unriddle the nuance between the two.

All of us have gifts, this is true, but it is our interpretation of where our gifts come from that determines if we are gifted or merely, talented.

Months ago, I wrote about success and about how our dreams should encompass other people. Our dreams and our goals should be about more than just us, but some of us only consider and think of ourselves when we envision our futures. We are not really concerned with the impact of what we do so long as we end up with wealth, notoriety, etc. However, the gifts that we are given and the blessings God bestows upon us are not for our use only, but for the benefit of others. When we get a little praise or promotion, we forsake that what we have is a gift from God and not anything we attained ourselves. Of course, there is intentional work done on our part to strengthen and nurture the gift, but without God, we have no gift to work with. It is that distinction, that ability to revere God and center Him as we use our gift that separates the talented from the gifted, the individuals who know God has blessed them from the individuals who not only fail to recognize the source of their gift, but also fail to use their gift to liberate others.

I was speaking to a friend a few weeks back about the hopes that I have for my writing. More specifically, I mentioned my desire to not just be a writer, but to be one that is eternal, and by that, I don’t mean someone whose name lives on, but someone who impacts my reader, who paves the wave for writers who come after me. I want to inspire, uplift, challenge, and convict like any piece of art worthwhile does. But above all else, I want to ensure that I don’t take for granted or make light of the gift and charge I’ve been given to write, to articulate not only my own story but my family’s story, the wisdom I’ve collected and the trials I have overcome and life as I experience and understand it. However, as I skipped to the part where I become the great writer I’d like to become, my friend, reminded me that in order for that fate to be fulfilled, not only do I have to work at it, but I have to endure and experience life and what God has in store for me. So, of course, I have to continue to work on my gift and honing my craft, but this is a partnership. It is not just about the writer I want to be and what I want to do, but equally, if not more so about where God needs to take me to fulfill His will. I am a writer, but I am also a vessel and to put it another way, I am a scribe for God, or at least, that is the way I see it. Now, I could be talented and write whatever I need to so that I can be rich, but my life is not my own and more importantly, I would be remiss in utilizing my gift if I made the mistake of not thinking of others, of how I could use my gift to uplift them, to encourage them and help them in any way I could.

If you ask me, there is more than one difference between being talented and gifted, but if I had to illuminate one, I would say sincerity.

To be gifted is to not only recognize that we have a gift and a purpose, but to recognize that the gift is not anything to take for granted, but something to treasure and to also recognize who it comes from. It is also to be intrinsically aware of that gift’s ability to do more than serve you, but serve others. Everyone has a gift and a talent – something that is a part of what makes them distinctly unique but not everyone can or even wants to use it for good and for inspiration, and they certainly don’t want to use it for anyone other than themselves, but there is such a power in doing those things if we open our eyes. There is a mistaken notion that we are just here on Earth to be here and for a good time, but we have a purpose and God has a plan. So, if I had to choose, I pray to become gifted – without question. My writing career has only just begun, but I pray to become gifted, to always put God first, to never forsake the gift I have been given, to never miss an opportunity to use my words for good, and to inspire and liberate others with my words and with my faith.