Muscles

      There are more than six hundred muscles in the human body (up to eight hundred, depending on who you ask). Some muscles are stronger than others, but they all work together to keep the body moving. They are always there--from the time you are born to the time you die. They can be built up with hard work, but their strength can decrease with the lack of use.
      Recall pysical fitness testing in school. A certain number of sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, pull-ups, trunk lifts, and all other sorts of exercises were required in order to receive a passing grade. Of course, now experts are saying that sit-ups really are not effective--and still, school's require this to be one of the tests of strength and endurance. The most hated test of all is the mile run, a test of endurance. In high school P.E., we had to run the mile every week to train for the test at the end of each semester. Whenever I see cross country runners at school, I have to wonder what kind of person actually enjoys running (enough so to run long distances every day).
      Faith and spiritual gifts are like our spiritual muscles. They begin weak, but are strengthened over time and with practice. Without use, they can become weak again, or we can forget their strength and never use them to their full potential.
      For a time, I felt insecure in my faith. I felt that I could not be a witness of the Gospel to anyone because I felt so guilty of past wrongs, so doubtful in my faith. If I couldn't even be a proper Christian, who am I to tell someone else they should be? I realized quickly how wrong that is. For one, no human can ever be perfect. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need a Savior (and then we wouldn't need to be preaching to anyone). I felt that my faith wasn't strong enough to be able to defend it--I was fearful that if I began ministering to someone that they would ask me questions I couldn't answer.
      However, lack of faith is not a reason to avoid ministry because ministry builds faith. The more you practice living your faith, the stronger it becomes. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Now imagine if you had an even greater faith than that!
      It is the same with spiritual gifts--once you know which ones you have, start to practice using them. It takes time to develop the sense of how to use them, but as you use them, they will become stronger and stronger. There may be times where you don't use your gifts much, and you can forget how to use them (or forget you had them in the first place!), but the gifts never leave. Just because you don't use your biceps doesn't mean your biceps go away.
      Throughout your life, the strength of these "spiritual muscles" will be tested. And more importantly, the endurance of the muscles will be tested in trials that last over long periods of time (from days, to weeks, to years). I pray that you will build your faith so it will be strong enough not to be shaken, even in the fiercest trials, and that you can learn how to use your spiritual gifts in mighty ways.