Mar 15, 2009
What are you better at than other people?…Now you know what you should do for them.
It’s arrogant to revel in your superiority.
But that’s different than reveling in the opportunity your superiority gives you to serve others.
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This is great. God has given each one gifts that make him a unique part of the body. This is an awesome thing to think about. Thanks.
So in other words, we should identify our superpowers and then use them for good?
Whenever I am tempted to simply revel and not reach out, I always consider the possibility that I might be in a car accident, or fall off a ladder, or simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time and in a heartbeat completely lose all my superiority.
When I realize how little control I have over life, it makes me feel less worthy to do things my way. So it makes sense to 1) not revel and 2) do something with your superiority that will last longer than your superiority itself.
Q. (An unrelated question, really) Is there a word for when a word sounds foreign and funny? Do you know what I mean? The word “revel” became that sort of word for me. It sounded funny and foreign. Please say you know what I’m talking about! It is the phenomena when a regular word just sounds weird, foreign, strange or funny. It could be a funny word, but it doesn’t have to be, it could be any word. All the sudden out-of-the-blue the word just sounds funny. I have a hunch if there’s a word for that sort of word or phenomenon, you might know the word. (Okay. I think it would be fine and fair for you to consider blocking my comments and wonder if I’m some wigged out lady with some inferiority issues.)
A. To your question: I don’t think I’m better at anything, honestly. That may sound like false humility, but I think it goes along with what Sam James expressed and though it may come off as pessimistic, a good point is made!
You’ve asked a fine question, but in consideration of it, I’m feeling, and judging myself rather inferior which of course is no excuse for not doing something for someone even if I’m not better or even all that good at it.
right on man!
Laurie sez: “I don’t think I’m better at anything, honestly.”
At the risk of over–quoting Seth Godin, that depends on how you define your “world.” Meaning, I’m not the best web designer on the planet… but I may very well be the best web designer in my family, or within a 5-mile radius of my home. My wife may judge herself an inferior cook when compared to Julia Child, but she ranks pretty high when compared to anyone else who’s ever cooked a meal for me. ;)
And at the risk (wow, I’m taking lots of risks in this comment!) of putting words in Abraham’s mouth, I think he was referring to individuals (or at least small groups) moreso than large groups. If you’re better at [x] than [person y], then you have an opportunity to serve [person y] through your skill with [x].
(If that’s not what you meant, Mr. Piper, feel free to correct me!)
What do you do with the things that you’re good at, but you can’t find out how to serve others with them?
My “useless” list probably goes like this: fly fishing, skiing, remembering funny lines from movies, eating.
my “useful” list: cooking, taxes, mowing grass, making coffee, leading worship.
by the way… thanks for provoking me to think about how to serve others. that was time well spent.
In the past, I have often restrained from helping others with things I tend to be “good at” because I don’t want to offend them but as I have tried to not let that be a reason not to offer or provide service, I have found that people are incredibly grateful and completely cool with the fact that it is a weakness of theirs.
I’m not sure why I thought that way since I am never offended when people help me with things I do poorly. (well…except my husband, if I am going to be totally honest, he is annoyingly good at too many things and that irritates me more than it should:-)
Ah, yes. The blessed to be a blessing idea. Recently I took the Strengthsfinder test and it said many of my strengths lie in the thinkin/learning area. A few weeks later I realized that I could help learn by studying with them, and that this could be an opportunity to serve them without being a time of proving superiority. Thanks for the reminder.
Luke Mc,
If you’re good at fly fishing and want to serve people, check out this link
http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/
Yes, even fly fishing can be used to serve others! The eating might be a little trickier.
Remembering funny lines from movies is useful.
[...] are you good at? Jump to Comments Over at 22 Words, Abraham’s post is titled, “What are you better at than other people?…Now you know what you should do for them.” And here are his ever-brief 22 words: It’s arrogant to revel in your [...]
I am incredibly awesome at Dr. Mario but I can’t imagine how my skills could serve someone else. =)
I think this helps us keep our pride in check–when you are looking for people to help and not people to impress, your heart attitude is very different.
And sometimes, you end up deciding NOT to go all out and make the Martha Stewart-esque presentation for your dinner guests, even though that is a gift you have and love to use. You choose instead to serve burgers and french fries because that is what would better minister to your guests that evening. (Of course, they are burgers and fries worthy of Martha Stewart. :0)
I don’t have many talents that necessarily benefit others, but I do love spelling and grammar. I thoroughly enjoy proofreading papers and I do the newsletter for my church.
This is great. Thanks for sharing this.
[...] Hello and welcome to RayFowler.org. If you are new here, be sure to subscribe by email or feed reader so that you don’t miss any future posts. You can also check out the Top Posts page to get a feel for the site. Thanks for visiting! Abraham Piper asks: “What are you better at than other people?…Now you know what you should do for them.” [...]