We each have a gift. But when overextended, our gift becomes a liability. In fact, gifts and liabilities are often flip sides of the same coin. We must remain humble with gifts and look deeper past our liabilities.
More is not always better.
For instance, salt is good and enhances the flavor of food. But too much can ruin a meal, not to mention compromise our health.
Our gifts function in the same way – what is good in balance becomes unsavory out of balance.
The gift of improving, for example, becomes hypercriticism when out of balance. Likewise, serving becomes enabling, justice becomes unforgiving, and hard work becomes workaholism.
The point is not to neuter our gift, but rather to learn how to bring it into proper balance and alignment.
Are we using our gift in the service of love or merely pushing our own agenda?
If we’re not careful, what appears good on the surface is actually feeding our ego more than meeting the true needs of others.
We must regularly check our motivations to ensure they’re love-driven and not merely ego-driven.
But it’s also true we can discover our gifts through our liabilities.
The things we struggle with are often clues to our gifting.
For example, hypersensitivity might point to the gifts of insight and empathy, conflict avoidant to the gifts of peacemaking and calm, and overindulging to the gifts of true joy and pleasure.
Our deep purpose and gifting is often revealed as we unpack the struggles of our life.
Keep your gift in check. But also learn from your liabilities as they reveal many hidden virtues.
Gifts and liabilities are often flip sides of the same coin. Learn to grow from them both.
