Sunday, October 12, 2025

Reciprocity: The Work of Gifts

I know what you might be thinking...this title has an error!  Normally this blog is about the "gift of work" rather than the "work of gifts."  

But no!  This was not a mistake!  This post is about the WORK of GIFTS. 

Let me explain.

The best gifts I've received in my life have evoked an emotion of some sort (a memory) OR they have unleashed my potential, stoked my curiosity, or prompted me to interact with the item in some way.  Consider books, musical instruments, gardening tools, kitchen tools, and gifts that lead to hobbies, among others.  These gifts lead to work in some way.  And this is good!

There's an episode from a comedy show that illustrates this connection.  The main character laments about a gift that he received, saying, "I know you think you are being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity...You haven't given me a gift. You've given me an obligation."

I believe the same is true of the gifts the Father has so generously given us - gifts of time, treasure, and talent.  When God gives us these gifts, there is an implied expectation of reciprocity - using them for the flourishing of this world for His glory.

This is shown very clearly in Ephesians 4:11-13, where gifts are given to the church:

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Emphasis mine.)

These gifts are not to be confined to offices, titles, or positions, but rather are for the equipping of the body of Christ. These gifts grow as they are given away (learned with practice).  Some of you may remember that two years ago I did a series of blogs on these five-fold gifts, as I believe that every believer needs to "work these gifts/muscles" in all five areas, regardless of where they work, so that they are ready when the time comes to use it  These gifts are not to be held but to be given away.

Likewise, think about these examples:

  • The greatest gift we have been given is salvation through Christ.  But upon receiving this gift, we are then compelled to give it away.  We are not simply recipients of this gift.  What we are saved FROM, we are then saved TO!
  • God blessed us by entrusting the earth to us in Genesis 1:28. He blessed us and then commanded us to cultivate it.  The blessing in this verse is an equipping.  He gave a gift and then told us to get to work!

The mistake we make when receiving a gift is to keep it for ourselves or do nothing with it.

I know that sometimes in my life, I received a gift that I was unsure about.  I didn't think it was a good fit for me.  I believe that many of us do the same with some of the gifts from the Father, like the gifts of growing our ability to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher.  Maybe I don't feel like a prophet or evangelist - I'm not sure those are a good fit for me.  But these aren't optional - they are what is needed for us to reach unity and grow in maturity.  The Gift-Giver, God, is the giver, and He will now ask us to do something and then not provide the means by which to do it. 


Ultimately, the main gift that we are given and that we are to give away is love.  We love people by being pastoral, teaching, speaking truth (being prophetic), sharing about Christ (evangelism), and living as ambassadors (being apostles/disciples).  Whatever we do and how we do it (like the packaging on a gift) doesn't matter, as long as the gift is received for what it is, and the person learns how to use that gift by giving it away.

The work of gifts.  

Indeed, it is an obligation.  But it is good.  We have been loved so much, and because of that, we are compelled to love others.  Let's keep the cycle of gifts going by giving them away.  Let us not hold onto gifts or blessings, acting as the only recipient, thereby stopping the cycle.  Let us not hold on to things, protecting, keeping, and preserving them, rather than giving them away.  Giving them away is risky.  It takes work.  It takes energy.  

But it is what we have been made to do.

The work of gifts.

May God help us.

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