Share Your Skill

Do you make the best cinnamon rolls ever, the kind your family begs for at holidays?
Can you tile a backsplash with the best?
Is your pantry an thing of beauty, organized and labelled?
Does your garden have enough prize-winning produce to feed your family and the neighbors?
Do numbers flow easily for you, and you love making a budget?

With what skill have you been gifted? There are many possible, big and small.

Who could benefit from that skill? There is probably someone around you that would be blessed.

Sharing with others has a number of benefits:

  • The woman described in Proverbs 31 had a wide variety of skills, which she used to bless her family and community. What she knew how to do flowed out of her and enriched those around her. You can do the same thing with what you know.
  • We are stronger together. When you share what you know with someone else, you are making their plans stronger. You are also investing in a stronger relationship through that sharing, which makes for a stronger church, community, or family.
  • Sharing a needed skill with someone else is a way to love your neighbor. Who has a bathroom in need of TLC, but the budget doesn’t quite match the need? What about when the labor cost is handled with a new skill, learned from a friend?
  • This kind of mentoring can help you obey Titus 2:3-4. If you are old enough to have gained a valuable skill, there is probably someone younger who can benefit from it as they grow in godliness.
  • And we haven’t even mentioned the simple joy of being together and  getting something special, and/or needed, done. It’s fun! I have both experienced that kind of fun and watched it happen.

So, please, please look for opportunities to share your knowledge with someone else. Invest in a good thing. The more we all do this, the more we all benefit.

How to Make Strong Plans

Plans are established by counsel;
by wise guidance wage war.
Proverbs 20:18

Life often feels like a battle — because it is! In the midst of it, we’ll take any weapon tossed our way. Even better than that would be walking into the battle with the best weapons we can have.

The best plans are shaped with wise input. The proverb above is giving us a key. Getting counsel when we make plans will make our plans stronger. Using a wise guide, who knows more than we do and can add depth and insight, will make us more effective as we work our plans.

Two is better than one, in this case. None of us know everything or can experience everything, but put us together and see what we have! Mistakes can be avoided, valuable lessons learned can be transferred (instead of having to learn it the hard way), and perspective is wider with two or more sets of eyes.

This does take humility, though. Often we don’t ask for help because we don’t want to admit we don’t know everything and can’t do it all. Letting pride limit us will hurt us every time.

But the benefit is great! Gaining wisdom from God through those godly people He places in our paths is a precious treasure.

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than gold.
Proverbs 3:13-14

I encourage you to ask for guidance today in a plan you are making. If you can’t immediately think of a good person to ask related to it, start asking questions of others and look to find someone who has the specific wisdom you might need.

Seek wisdom. It’s worth the effort.