Spiritual gifts fascinate me. Do you know your Spiritual gifts? To understand Spiritual gifts we must first understand from where the gifts come and why we receive them.
Spiritual gifts are just that, gifts from the Holy Spirit. When we name Jesus as Lord of our lives and receive the Holy Spirit, His Spirit manifests the power of Christ in our lives.
For some reason, that I can’t begin to comprehend, God loves us beyond reason. He loves us so much that He could not stand the thought of Heaven without us. That is also why He hates sin so much. It separates us from Him. God, and God alone, is completely pure and completely Holy. He can have no evil in His Presence.
We are all sinners and can never measure up to His purity and Holiness. All people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) We all come in to this world as selfish, self-centered people and can never be good enough to enter into God’s presence on our own.
The Bible says, “the penalty of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life”. (Rom. 6:23) Someone had to pay the penalty for our sins. That is why God sent us a gift through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the price for our sins through His death on the cross and defeated death once and for all when He rose from the dead on Easter morning.
If we “A”dmit we sinned and turn away from our sins (Rom. 3:23),
“B”elieve Jesus is God’s son and God raised Him from the dead, and
“C”onfess Jesus as Lord of our lives, we will be saved. (Rom. 10:9-10)
It’s as easy as A, B, C, Admit, Believe, and Confess. That is the Gospel plain and simple.
We can not save ourselves. We can not be good enough on our own to get in to Heaven. Jesus died in our place and rose again to defeat death once and for all. He IS the ONLY Way to Heaven. (John 14:6)
Once we accept the gift of salvation through Christ from God, the Bible says in Romans 8:9 that His Holy Spirit lives in us. He is the source of Spiritual gifts.
As I develop relationships with people, their gifts are usually immediately evident and it helped when recruiting volunteers for events. If placed in the correct place of service, God would use them mightily and they would thrive. The volunteers would see God using them to bless others and in return they were blessed.
That is how God shows Himself through His people. It is the most amazing blessing to have God work in and through you.
In my mind, there are two categories of Spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:27-31 and Eph. 4:11-13, Speaking and Serving gifts.
Here is a list of gifts in these passages. It is not an exhaustive list of gifts but it will give a basic knowledge of gifting. I say basic knowledge mainly because that is all I have to share, a basic knowledge.
Speaking Gifts:
- Prophesy
- Teaching
- Encouragement or Exhortation
- Preaching
- Evangelism
- Leadership
- Administration
Serving Gifts:
- Serving
- Shepherding
- Giving or Contributing
- Mercy
- Apostle
- Healing
- Knowledge
- Wisdom
- Faith
It is easier to spot those with speaking gifts verses serving gifts. People with speaking gifts are front and center. You hear them. They are visible. Those with serving gifts are usually not as visible. Serving gifts are usually behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly. Sadly, some with serving gifts will say they don’t have anything to offer or they feel they are not important. When in fact, they are the grease in the proverbial wheel.
Without serving gifts, the church would not function as well. It’s not to say those of us with speaking gifts don’t serve. God can equip everyone to do what needs to be done. The speaking-gifted person’s motivation to serve involves more relational types of service. While the serving-gifted person will be quietly giving, caring, or meeting the needs of others and not want any credit or fuss made over them.
While speaking-gifted people do not mind being on stage or teaching a class, it would be harder for the serving-gifted person. However, just as in the case with the speaking-gifted person serving, the serving-gifted person can teach or preach if God asks them because He will equip them for the assignment. It is just not their comfort zone.
All of the gifts are important to keep the Body of Christ functioning properly.
The Bible says, “God has arranged the parts in the body…just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one Body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (1 Cor. 12:18-21)
The best way to know your Spiritual gift is to serve God and others in some way. You will see the things you thrive on and are blessed through. Usually, it is easy to know if your motivational gift is speaking or serving. You can have many gifts but there will be one primary that motivates you to serve.
When you follow Christ and serve with your gifts from the Spirit, you will pour out the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22):
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
Do you know your Spiritual gifts?
Here is an article I found helpful from Lifeway.com to explain the Spiritual gifts in more detail. There is also a free downloadable survey in the right hand column to help you.
These are some books I’ve studied on Spiritual gifts that might give more insight.
Let me know if you have other resources you found helpful in understanding the Spiritual gifts.
Praying you have a blessed Easter season!
Love,
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