The Importance of Spiritual Gifts

I spent some time today talking about spiritual gifts. There are a number of different lists in the Bible of different spiritual gifts. The fact of the matter is, “a spiritual gift is grace or gifts denoting extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating on their souls by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, all Christians have at least one, but likely many, spiritual gifts. Gifts are manifest in different ways through different individuals and all gifts are of divine origin. It is through our gifts that we are all members of the body of Christ, yet serving different functions.

Read through 1 Corinthians, chapter 12 regarding Spiritual gifts.

This passage addresses the importance of spiritual gifts. If you don’t know what your spiritual gifts are, this passage should encourage you to spend some earnest time in prayer and study to find out.

Spiritual gifts are “the manifestation of the Spirit” (v. 7). If you truly do not have spiritual gifts, it is because the spirit is not manifest in you. This seems harsh, but the only logical conclusion is that someone who does not have spiritual gifts does not have the Spirit of God and therefore has no salvation. On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that anyone who is not saved will be terribly concerned about what their spiritual gifts are.

A great starting place is to ask your close friends and family what your gifts are. They have observed you more than you have observed yourself so they can probably tell you. Many would argue that they know themselves better than anyone, so there is no need, but your gifts are not a part of you; they are the outpouring of the Spirit of God within you.

Distinguishing Spiritual Gifts from Talents

A person has two major parts, the spirit and the flesh. A Christian has a spirit which is alive because it is in constant contact with the Holy Spirit. A non-Christian has no connection with the Holy Spirit and is spiritually dead. Both Christians and non-Christians have flesh. The flesh is mind (what you think), will (what you do) and emotion (what you feel).

Talents are the product of the flesh. As I play the guitar more and more, I get better and better. This is true for Christians and non-Christians. As we perform certain tasks, we get better at them because that is how God designed our flesh. As Christians, we are certainly called to use our talents for God, but that does not mean that our talents are our spiritual gifts.

Spiritual gifts are completely divine. They are the product of God’s Spirit at work in us. As we rely on God for strength, He works through us, producing spiritual gifts which we use for Him. It is a divine strength which is a product of the Spirit and not of the flesh.

I just want to point out that God allows non-Christians to be talented because that it is part of our design. Some talents such as creativity, teaching and other service related talents can be spiritual gifts as well, but not necessarily.

Why Seek my Spiritual Gifts?

Aside from being confirmation of your salvation as discussed earlier, there are many reasons to find out your gifts. Paul compares the body of Christ to the physical body. We are all one body, but we are not all the same; we do not all have the same gifts. In order for the body to work as God designed, we must make use of all spiritual gifts. My gifts are not more or less important than anyone else’s in the church because without the presence of all gifts, the church (even the local church—see 1 Cor 1) cannot function as God designed it. In this sense a refusal to do God’s work is causing the church to become handicapped and ineffective.

Image Credits: werdok, scx.hu