It’s highly likely that most of us have had a moment when we envied the talent, skill, or success of another. We may be moved by a particular song and try to sing it ourselves, but we lack the ability to recreate the pristine notes of the artist. We may struggle to get that fastball over the plate, make that three-point basket. We may envy the skill and celebrity status of that film actor.

It seems that in every endeavor, there is someone out there who can do it better than you can. And perhaps you may wonder what “they” have that you don’t. It seems that they have a gift.

The person you admire does, in fact, have a gift. That person was born with perfect vocal cords, perfect coordination, artistic vision, or some other trait that gave them the edge in their chosen field. They were born with a gift, and so were you. The difference is that the successful were able to identify their gift and refine it to perfection.

They practiced, rehearsed, and honed that special gift.

Like them, you were born with a gift, and you need to perfect that gift to succeed. You need to fuel that gift with the one element that God has left in your hands. Passion.

Passion is the difference between dreaming and doing. Passion is what takes a skill to the professional level. Passion is the drive that causes athletes to push themselves to exhaustion. Passion means singing in the church choir and waiting tables between auditions. Passion means never giving up.

Passion is also the key to identifying your gift.

It is up to each of us to search within ourselves for that spirit of adventure or artistry that ignites our passion until we find the vehicle that was our destiny, until we finally see our gift. Then, we must use our passion to refine that gift.

Finally, we need to stoke the fires of our passion by recognizing and appreciating the source of our gift. Perhaps it is as simple as embracing those lyrics – “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.”