Post by Sheila on May 14, 2024 15:44:21 GMT -5
Every Christian is given at least one gift through the Holy Spirit. As it states in 1 Corinthians 12, "to each one [believer] the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good [of the body of Christ]" (verse 7) and "all of these [gifts] are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one" (verse 11). The gift which a person is given is the one most needed by God at that time and place and given to the person most capable of utilizing that gift. Although the person may not think or feel they're worthy of that gift or capable of using it, the Holy Spirit will guide them and give them the knowledge to accomplish the jobs for which the gift was given.
No matter how new they are to the Christian faith, a person will be given at least one of these gifts. It may not be evident at first; however, as the believer grows, the gift or gifts will develop and become more obvious. From my own personal experience, it also seems that although a person starts out with one gift being the most dominant, that may change over time. After I first became a Christian, my gift was that of service to other people. Over the past several years, the gift of teaching has become my dominant gift and is used through my writings both at web sites and in books. Don't become impatient to discover your gift, simply follow the lead of the Spirit and it will be revealed through whatever is of most interest to you and the things you enjoy doing the most.
Arguments have been put forth that some of the gifts, such as speaking in tongues and healing through touch or prayer, are no longer present. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that any of the gifts were only available for a short period of time. Common sense alone should make it clear that if any of the gifts are still being given by the Holy Spirit, then all of them are still present and active. Just because some gifts may be more rare, doesn't mean they don't exist. Also, just because some of the people supposedly exhibiting some of the gifts have been proven to be charlatans, doesn't mean there aren't people who truly have that gift. For example, many so-called "faith healers" have been proven to be frauds. That doesn't mean there aren't any people out there using the gift of healing and, if they were known, would probably be proven to be genuine. They use their gift of healing in a humble manner and you don't hear about them because they don't need to be the center of attention.
Some of the gifts may seem fairly common among Christians and people can demonstrate their use to some extent, even if just a little. People with the gift as granted by the Spirit will be able to use it to a greater extent than people without it. Here's a list of at least some the gifts of the Spirit:
- apostles: people sent out from the church into the missionary field
- discernment: better able to know when something said is God's truth or the truth has been twisted or is an outright lie
- evangelism: focuses on proclaiming the gospel of salvation wherever they may be
- faith: a deeper faith used to encourage other people
- giving: willing to give personal money and possessions to those more in need
- guidance: giving good advice or suggestions, based on Scripture, about how to deal with problems, etc
- healing: removing illness, disease or disability by the use of prayer or touch
- interpreting tongues: being able to understand a foreign language, whether spoken or written, without ever having studied the language
- mercy: visiting, praying for, and showing compassion to the sick, poor, disabled, and elderly
- miraculous powers: these include things such as driving away demons and acts which are beyond normal human capacities
- pastors: carry out all of the duties of the role of the lead clergy in the church
- prophecy: this is not predicting the future, it is equipping the saints through exhortation, edification, and consolation
- service: various jobs performed within the ministries of the church
- speaking in tongues: being able to speak a foreign language for which the person has never had any training
- teaching: relaying the knowledge of and lessons learned from Scripture to other people so they can grow in knowledge
- word of knowledge: able to relate an understanding of Christian doctrines and Scripture
- word of wisdom: apply the teachings of the Bible by putting them into action in the proper way at the proper time
Take time to read through the descriptions of the various gifts. Do any of them stand out as something at which you're very good at doing? If so, that's probably your Spiritual gift. If you're not sure if any of them apply to you, there are a lot of websites that provide "tests" you take. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but the few I took did give the result of the gift of teaching for me. If you haven't already, please take the time to take the survey provided and leave a response to the thread letting us all know what other gifts you may have and how you're able to use them. Also, if I missed a Spiritual gift in the list, let me know and I'll add it.
* All quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible.
No matter how new they are to the Christian faith, a person will be given at least one of these gifts. It may not be evident at first; however, as the believer grows, the gift or gifts will develop and become more obvious. From my own personal experience, it also seems that although a person starts out with one gift being the most dominant, that may change over time. After I first became a Christian, my gift was that of service to other people. Over the past several years, the gift of teaching has become my dominant gift and is used through my writings both at web sites and in books. Don't become impatient to discover your gift, simply follow the lead of the Spirit and it will be revealed through whatever is of most interest to you and the things you enjoy doing the most.
Arguments have been put forth that some of the gifts, such as speaking in tongues and healing through touch or prayer, are no longer present. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that any of the gifts were only available for a short period of time. Common sense alone should make it clear that if any of the gifts are still being given by the Holy Spirit, then all of them are still present and active. Just because some gifts may be more rare, doesn't mean they don't exist. Also, just because some of the people supposedly exhibiting some of the gifts have been proven to be charlatans, doesn't mean there aren't people who truly have that gift. For example, many so-called "faith healers" have been proven to be frauds. That doesn't mean there aren't any people out there using the gift of healing and, if they were known, would probably be proven to be genuine. They use their gift of healing in a humble manner and you don't hear about them because they don't need to be the center of attention.
Some of the gifts may seem fairly common among Christians and people can demonstrate their use to some extent, even if just a little. People with the gift as granted by the Spirit will be able to use it to a greater extent than people without it. Here's a list of at least some the gifts of the Spirit:
- apostles: people sent out from the church into the missionary field
- discernment: better able to know when something said is God's truth or the truth has been twisted or is an outright lie
- evangelism: focuses on proclaiming the gospel of salvation wherever they may be
- faith: a deeper faith used to encourage other people
- giving: willing to give personal money and possessions to those more in need
- guidance: giving good advice or suggestions, based on Scripture, about how to deal with problems, etc
- healing: removing illness, disease or disability by the use of prayer or touch
- interpreting tongues: being able to understand a foreign language, whether spoken or written, without ever having studied the language
- mercy: visiting, praying for, and showing compassion to the sick, poor, disabled, and elderly
- miraculous powers: these include things such as driving away demons and acts which are beyond normal human capacities
- pastors: carry out all of the duties of the role of the lead clergy in the church
- prophecy: this is not predicting the future, it is equipping the saints through exhortation, edification, and consolation
- service: various jobs performed within the ministries of the church
- speaking in tongues: being able to speak a foreign language for which the person has never had any training
- teaching: relaying the knowledge of and lessons learned from Scripture to other people so they can grow in knowledge
- word of knowledge: able to relate an understanding of Christian doctrines and Scripture
- word of wisdom: apply the teachings of the Bible by putting them into action in the proper way at the proper time
Take time to read through the descriptions of the various gifts. Do any of them stand out as something at which you're very good at doing? If so, that's probably your Spiritual gift. If you're not sure if any of them apply to you, there are a lot of websites that provide "tests" you take. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but the few I took did give the result of the gift of teaching for me. If you haven't already, please take the time to take the survey provided and leave a response to the thread letting us all know what other gifts you may have and how you're able to use them. Also, if I missed a Spiritual gift in the list, let me know and I'll add it.
* All quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible.
Copyright © 2024 by Sheila Rae Myers