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This article arrives third in a series examining five spiritual maturity indicators for children's ministries that all begin with the letter G—Grace, Growth, Groups, Gifts, and Good Stewardship. We've already looked at Grace, heard about Growth and Groups, so now we'll grab hold of Gifts and Good Stewardship.

The human hand performs many miraculous tasks. Unlock a door, type on a keyboard, or turn the thin pages of a magazine—all require precise, coordinated motions that happen without much attention. Hands also play important roles in a life of faith: folding them to pray, clasped with others in Christian community, even raised as part of worship in some churches. Yes, our hands do plenty.

And those same hands make their largest impact when extended to lend help (Gifts) or to give away something valuable (Good Stewardship)—because those moments reveal the abundance of a heart devoted to God. In children's ministry, we believe that God touches hearts of any size, so the same must be true of hands.

First Corinthians 12:7 says Christians receive spiritual giftedness as a "manifestation of the spirit for the common good." These gifts represent talent to be deployed serving God. However, expecting a child to know exactly what his or her gifts are is unrealistic. We can, though, encourage kids to participate in work for the common good in meaningful ways. And those ways often extend past church walls.

When seven-year-old Amanda heard about a church program that provides school backpacks filled with supplies to under-resourced children, she immediately knew she wanted to help. Her father suggested that she fund this opportunity on her own.

So Amanda, a good baker for her age, made chocolate chip cookies and sold them door-to-door. With plastic bags containing cookies and heart filled with determination, she visited neighbors and described the backpack project. Many people purchased a bag or two, which yielded $34.08. Her parents bought the final two bags for 92 cents, so she reached the $35 amount she needed.

"The most fun," says Amanda, "was shopping for the pink and purple backpack and the brand new school supplies." After creatively decorating a box to put everything in, she brought it to the drop-off center at church—and knew that another child somewhere would go to school well equipped. After all her efforts, Amanda felt that this project was a good thing to do for the right reason.

"God likes it when you help other people," she says.

Every local church has plenty of work happening internally to make it run and externally to serve the community. With all that activity in motion, children's ministries can help kids explore different uses of the gifts and talents the Holy Spirit provides. Providing assistance is critical, though, because children typically don't stumble into serving on their own.

To start, develop a list of kid-appropriate tasks to help the church operate on weekends and evenings. These roles must offer real contribution—meaning they don't require a child to stand and smile as a novelty to church attendees. Facility set-up teams, cleaning teams, and groundskeeper teams represent three general possibilities. For children who have developed talent in a specific area, then drama teams, music teams, or other artistic teams might be options. Tangible work on a team will prove fun and offer a sense of belonging, as well as provide value to the church. People of all ages typically prefer to serve together.

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