Spiritual Gifts
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:4 (NKJV)
“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV)
I freely confess that I do not know how to do it. You might ask, “Do what?” Life! I mean everything and anything. I genuinely feel that I need help in every single area of life. Like you, I have responsibilities and decisions that must be made each day. Like you, I need to lead the people in my life in His ways. Like you, I need to be mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically capable. In short, I need an ability that I do not have in order to live life in a way that pleases God.
I have none of this in myself. I am completely and utterly powerless in my ability!
Thankfully, the Lord Jesus, before He ascended into Heaven, made a promise to give us His Spirit. Jesus said that He would give us His Spirit and promised that He would abide with us forever. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the One true God. This means that when Jesus promises to give the Spirit to us, it means that God is giving Himself to us. This means that we have Him. The Creator of all things lives within us. We have the only One who is wise, Who is all-powerful, and Who sees all things living within us. It is no wonder the Bible says that “His divine power [the Holy Spirit] has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3, NKJV). With God Himself living within us, what could we possibly lack?
In addition to the promise that God would take up His residence in us, the Holy Spirit also promised to give His people special “gifting.” These “gifts” are often seen as our abilities, interests, or talents. They do not come from us; they are given to us by God to be used to point to Him and serve Him effectively. You have (at least) one. Interestingly, the Bible says that every person has been given some gifting from God (Romans 11:29). This means that even the unbeliever has been given a gift from the Lord that is meant to be used for His glory. Sadly, and obviously, many do not use their gifting to glorify the Lord but rather to glorify themselves. Nevertheless, God has gifted them. CEOs, engineers, commanders, generals, teachers, architects, and artists of all kinds have all received gifting from God.
You have been gifted by God. You have. It is one of His promises. Do you know what it is? If so, are you using it to point people to Him? If you do not know what your gift is, I would encourage you to talk to someone who loves our Lord and knows you and ask them what they see. Read Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28 carefully and see if you see yourself in any of these lists of gifting. Once you know that you have been gifted and have identified what it is, all that remains is to begin using that gift to point to Him!