October 20, 2020 (Tuesday)
One of my favorite topics is “The Fruit of the Spirit,” which is a list of atitudes toward life that should characterize a Christian. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those words describe our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and they should also describe us who believe in Him with all our hearts. They are found in the Bible in Galatians 5.
A topic I have not written about very much is, “Spiritual Gifts.” They are named in several verses of the Bible: Romans 12:6–8, 1 Corinthians 12:8–10, and 1 Peter 4:10. The Web site, “tyndale.com” features a blog, “Unfolding Faith,” which lists 18 Spiritual Gifts. The list is as follows: Administration, Being an apostle, Discernment, Evangelism, Exhortation, Faith, Giving, Healing, Helps, Hospitality, Knowledge, Leadership, Mercy, Prophecy, Serving, Speaking in tongues, Teaching (sometimes known as shepherding), and Wisdom. Click here to go to that site if you like.
As I see the subject, an individual Christian can be gifted in more than one way, but is especially strong in certain gifts. For the most part each gift is an action taken by the believer, who may be known by fellow believers as being especially gifted with at least one of the gifts. The person thus identified becomes known as gifted in that way. Each person has his function as the church does its work.
The Apostle Paul gives us a terrific description of how the members of a church, gifted in some way, work together to accomplish the work of Christ. Our human bodies have many parts, and each part has its function, but it operates as one person. (1 Corinthians 12 *).
If you would like to know more about this very important subject, I suggest you begin your quest by going to the web site named above, and following links within it. It seems to me to be built on a firm foundation of sound theology.
Jesus said, “I will build my church,” and He is still doing that today through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who produces fruit in our lives, and guides us as we become more effective servants of God, exercising our spiritual gifts.
I believe the key to understanding and practicing spiritual gifts has been given to us in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (NIV). Your gift has not been given to you for your own personal edification, although it may accomplish that, but for the service of others, which in reality is the only way open to us to serve God.
* 1 Corinthians 12 (NIV)
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Romans 12:6-8 NIV
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1 Peter 4:10 NIV
