God Has A Gift For You

I Corinthians 12:4-13

Everyone likes receiving gifts.  Especially ones that are “just right” for you, where the giver has taken special thought as to what would be just perfect for you.  The Lord God has given all of His born-again children just such spiritual gifts, called Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to each Christian are unique to them, each according to their talents and skills.  Also, each of these gifts that God gives believers are to help the Body of Believers, the Church.

Some of you may say that you have not been given any special spiritual gift, talent or ability to benefit and bless God’s body of believers.  “I have nothing to offer, nothing to give in order to help the Church.”, you might say.  That is not the case.  God did not say that the Spirit only gave some or a few.  No, He said that the Spirit gave to each of us.  Verses 7 and 11 say that the Holy Spirit gave His spiritual gifts to “every man” (or woman).   Likewise, Scriptures do not say that He gave to some all of the gifts to do everything in the ministry.

In each local church there is usually a broad spectrum of different people, each with different skills, personalities, and abilities.  God has given to each believer the spiritual gift that He feels is best suited to them.  And though there are many with different skills and gifts, they will all fit together through the guidance of the Holy Spirit (vs. 4-6).  When everyone is submitted to Him, we will all work for the same goal, which is to glorify God and lead others to salvation.

When we are saved we are each given at least one spiritual gift to bless God through, and to help edify the Church (vs. 7).  These spiritual gifts are distributed as the Holy Spirit sees fit (vs. 11).  He will enable us to do what He has called us to do.  If God has called you to a ministry He will equip you.

The “Word of Wisdom” in verse 8 is the ability to understand God’s Word and will, and to skillfully apply it to life.  The “Word of Knowledge” is to understand and speak God’s truth, with insight into the mysteries of His Word that could not be known except by His revelation.   These two spiritual gifts, along with the gifts of preaching and teaching require diligent study of Scriptures, God’s Word.

Every Christian must have faith in Christ in order to be saved.  However, the spiritual gift of Faith is an unusual measure of trust and faith in the Holy Spirit’s power for a specific need (vs. 9).  The gift of Prophecy (vs. 10) is not just predicting the future.  More specifically, this means the gift of preaching God’s Word with great power.  In the writings of the great Old Testament prophets only a very small portion was given to predicting the future, namely the rise, fall, and judgment of various world kingdoms.  Most of their writings were preaching and telling forth God’s Word with great power.

Verse 10 speaks of the spiritual gift of Discernment of Spirits.  Satan is a deceiver and a counterfeiter of God’s message and works (John 8:44).  This gift is a God-given ability to recognize lying spirits, and to identify deceptive and erroneous doctrines.  The early Christians at the church in Berea made use of this gift to see if what Paul was preaching was really the truth of God (Acts 17:11).  The Apostle John warned the early Church, and us today, to use discernment and be wary of Satan’s use of false teachers and doctrines (I John 4:1).

In the final verses of this passage, verses 12 and 13, the Apostle Paul compares the Church to the human body.  Each part has a specific function, and each part is different for a purpose.  All of the parts of the body must work together in order to properly function.  What is the purpose of the Church?  The Church has a goal here on earth, which is to glorify God and to spread the message of salvation.  If you do not know yet what spiritual gift God has given you, pray and ask Him to reveal that to you.  And once you know, be sure to put that gift to use in your local body of believers to further the goal of the Church here on earth.