Abilitieswe all have them but what does the word “ability” mean? Physicalpower, whether bodily or mental; natural or acquired; force of understanding;skill in arts or science. Ability is active power, or power to perform; asopposed to capacity, or power to receive. In the plural, abilities is much usedin a like sense; and also for faculties of the mind, and acquiredqualifications. You may have the ability the play some type ofmusical instrument; you may have the ability to talk with others as if you haveknown them all your life. You may have the ability to work with your hands oryou may have the ability to notice things others quickly miss. We all have theability to do different things, we are all different and all have differentabilities. The question is are we using the abilities that God has given us orhave we let ourselves or others rob us of our ability? One of the first thingswe must understand is that there is someone who may have the same ability andmay be better at using it that we are. If we allow that to hinder our ability justbecause someone else is better at it then we are then who do we rob? First werob ourselves then we rob those around us. One day last week I allowed the dayto get me discouraged; now I try not to let that happen but on this day it did.That night after I arrived home I told my wife that I was going to just……..(I’mnot going to tell you what had me discouraged.) My wife didn’t say anything fora few minutes; she does me that way when I have moments like this. Then shespoke and said “really;” here it comes she is going to be on my side and giveme some more good reasons why I should do this. Then came these words, “what aboutall the people you’ll hurt and discourage with your actions?” No, No, No youdon’t understand, this is not what I wanted to hear you say. Then she said “ifthat’s ok with you then go ahead;” no that’s not ok with me I don’t want tohurt or discourage anyone. Then I thought this is what happens when I or anyoneelse makes quick decisions, we hurt those we never planned on hurting. What aBlessing I can be today, I have the ability to make a major contribution tosomeone today. I have the ability to tellthem something I’m grateful for about them. You know we all need someone whowill tell us what’s right about us before our funeral. It may be one of thegreatest gifts we can give someone, to help them see the masterpiece that Godmade when He made them. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivationdetermines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” You are theonly person on earth who can use your ability what will we do with our abilitytoday? Use it or sit on it? It’s our choice.
