The first thing you must do is recognize the gifts God has given you to use. These include the things you can’t control—your parents, nationality, race, language. They also include your SHAPE—your spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences. These are the things that make you uniquely you.

Now, you are not responsible for the gifts God didn’t give you. In other words, if you are not artistically gifted, you are not expected to paint pictures like Rembrandt. But you are responsible for the ones he did give you.

When you get to heaven, God isn’t going to compare you with anyone else, but he will compare you with yourself. What did you do with what you were given? What could you have done if you had trusted God a little bit more? Romans 14:12 says, “Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (NIV).

God gave Esther a SHAPE uniquely designed to help her fulfill her destiny. As a result, “Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her . . . she won [the king’s] favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen” (Esther 2:15, 17 NIV).

God gave Esther gifts for a purpose. He has also given you gifts for a purpose. And just like Esther, you have a responsibility to be a good steward of those gifts. They are not just for your benefit. God gave them to you for the benefit of others.

When you discover your gifts and determine to use them for good, God can use you, just like he used Esther, for his purposes on Earth.