My daughter will turn 3 this July.
She’s a whirlwind of affection and fun right now. She’s so expressive, dramatic, inquisitive, and relational that life with her right now is just plain fun. I love being her daddy.
Adi loves to give me gifts. She’ll grab a toy that she’s not playing with, run over to me, and give it to me with a big smile and a huge hug.
Occasionally she’ll give me her most prized possession, her blankie, only to recant the offer after a few moments.
I love it when she gives me gifts, but the truth is… I don’t need them.
I don’t need her blankie, my wife has about twenty of them stockpiled. I don’t need her toys; I’ve outgrown them. I don’t need them, but I love getting them.
There are a lot of things we think God needs from us that He really doesn’t.
Here’s a list of four things God doesn’t need from you…
#1 – God Doesn’t Need Your Talents & Gifts
He gave them to you, remember? As he formed you, He gave you those natural abilities that have grown into talents. He has given you Spiritual Gifts supernaturally since you made a decision to follow Him. He gave them to you because He loves you. He knows that we were created with a longing to be significant to others, and through His grace and mercy He has given us an opportunity to do that by making our world a better place using those talents and gifts.
#2 – God Doesn’t Need Your Money
It’s not your money, first of all. Everything you have belongs to Jesus. He has just chosen to bless you with it and trust you to carry out His plan with it. God doesn’t need your money, but He wants you to learn that you can trust Him with everything, including your financial situation.
You need money. God knows that. He knows you need shelter and groceries and gas. He wants you to give generously for YOU! If God needs our money, we HAVE to give. But… God doesn’t need our money. We don’t HAVE to give, WE GET TO!!!! There’s nothing that adds to our joy like being generous.
#3 – God Doesn’t Need You To Be Perfect
It’s easy to get in the mindset that we earn God’s favor and blessing. If we could get it right, then the cross is simply not needed, but Jesus gave us the cross because we can’t get it right without it. Actually, our perfection is never going to be the basis of our relationship with God. It’s the perfection found in Jesus that does that!
#4 – God Doesn’t Need You
We live in a world of superstars. There are magazines devoted to telling you every little detail of stars: their food, parenting decisions, style, and other obscure facts.
It’s not uncommon for our superstar culture to bleed over into our lives, as we become the superstar of the story we’re living.
Truth is, God doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need me.
I’m not a superstar. I’m not so important that God’s plan crashes to a halt if I blow it.
But… God wants me. He wants to use me.
And… He’s invited me into His story. I’m not the main character. I’m not the author. I’m just playing my part as the Grand Author writes His epic story.
What a grand invitation! God doesn’t need me, but HE WANTS ME!
Let’s embrace these as what they are, invitations to experience a loving and gracious God!