What if someone handed you $1,000 to improve yourself by learning a skill? What would you choose to learn?

In case you don’t know yet, that’s kind of what we’ve been given in the form of our SkillsFuture Credit for Singapore citizens aged 25 and above. Simply put, you’ve got a thousand bucks to learn something new.

From “serious” courses that will enable you to improve or acquire new skillsets for work, to certifications that will help you make a career switch, and even “casual” courses like baking bread, we have a great opportunity to learn something valuable.

In the spirit of stirring up one another to love and good works, we thought we’d put this out early in January while everyone’s still holding fast to their New Year resolutions.

After all, the start of the year is the perfect opportunity to concretise resolutions and sign yourself up for some renewal and improvement this year! 

In case you haven’t a clue on what skill you might pick up, we’ve put together some ideas to help you make that choice.

1. GET THE HANG OF HAIRDRESSING

Hairdressing is a wonderfully useful skill to have.

Beyond personal grooming, you can also cut hair for your friends and family. You can even use this skill to bless the underprivileged here or abroad during a mission trip!

If you’re intending to become a professional hairdresser or barber, there are courses from hairdressing schools that can be stepping stones to professional certificates.

But if you’re just looking to get into the basics, pop over to onePA and you’ll be able to see a host of Community Centres (CCs) around the island that offer such courses at a comparatively cheaper price. 

Of course, you don’t get a certificate. But it’s perfect if you’re just looking to pick up the skill!

So why not consider hairdressing? I’ll leave you to mullet over… 

2. LEARN A LANGUAGE 

할렐루야! A quick search and you’ll see there’s no shortage of schools that offer language courses, whether it’s Korean or Sign Language. Again, you can claim SkillsFuture Credit for many of these.

But beyond how nice it’d be to watch K-dramas or anime without subs… why not dream a little bigger?

Imagine being able to go on missions while speaking the language of the people you serve! 

From now until we’re able to travel overseas again, why not consider the process of learning a language your personal runway of progress in becoming fluent with someone else’s heart language?

It’ll make all the difference when you get off the plane and get to God’s work!

3. TOUCH UP WITH TECHNICAL SKILLS

Gonna lump a few together in here because I am free in Christ to do so.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could serve our church practically? I’m talking about taking hands and feet to a whole new level. Let’s take a look at some technical skills we could pick up.

How about woodworking or metalworking for starters? Imagine being able to make simple repairs when a pew is damaged, or using your skills to make props for the Christmas production later this year!

Whatever skill we have, let’s steward our gifts for God’s glory. 

Need something else to spark your interest? Why not consider something like a course on electrical maintenance? It would be cool to help your church stay running when a circuit breaker causes problems (again).

Finally, if you’re still feeling stuck, why not pick up plumbing? It’s a great skill to have when you’ve discovered something unpleasantly persistent in the family toilet – or a bathroom in church too!

Anyway, always remember: God loves clean hands. But I believe He also loves the hands of a person who isn’t afraid of a mess for His church’s sake.

4. COUNSELLING CRASH COURSE

Everyone struggles. And there are all times that we need a listening ear and someone to help us resolve deeper issues. That’s kinda where counselling comes in.

So if you’ve been gifted by God in this area, why not pick up some skills related to the field of healing and ministering to one another? 

There are lots of training options that accept SkillsFuture Credit. 

Through my research to write this simple list up, I’ve come to realise just how many diverse skills there are. 

And I’m reminded that as a Church, our Body is made up of many different parts. No matter who we are, each one of us has got a skill.

With that in mind, if we’re great with our hands, let’s be the best pair of hands we can be. If we’re a listening ear, let’s sharpen our hearing. Whatever skill we have, let’s steward our gifts for God’s glory. 

Finally, even as we do our best to improve ourselves, let’s remember that the best version of ourselves is Christlikeness.

For all that can be said for self-improvement, the ultimate improvement in life is not in how good we are at things, but where we are in Christ.

So let’s receive that, and then let’s live so that our light may shine before others and glorify God.