Gifts of the Spirit

I Cor.12

The Holy Spirit has placed each believer into the body of Christ. (v.13) And like our physical bodies, each body part is deeply dependent on other body parts. Thus, I have a vested interest in your performance. If you don’t perform your God-designed function, I will suffer -- a broken foot makes life miserable for the whole body!

When the Spirit placed us into the body of Christ, he gave each of us special abilities (wow!) to serve “the common good.” One of the primary tasks is to discover the unique ways that the Spirit has gifted us so that we can serve others.

How do we determine how we have been gifted? When I was in seminary one of my professors recommended that we join a different ministry every year for the first ten years after graduation. Though he was partially jesting, his point was that we discover our gifts by having a variety of experience. (His words were more prophecy than advice for me. During that ten year span I received experience as an evangelist, a pastor, a gardener, a teacher, a personnel director, a mentor, and more. Part of the diversity was forced -- I was fired three times!)

These opportunities don’t have to be formal ministries. All of us are surrounded by people in need -- an elderly parent, a single neighbor, a troubled co-worker, a fatherless child, an unsaved neighbor. As we reach out to these people, we will find unique ways -- “different kinds of service . . . different kinds of workings” -- that we fruitfully minister to others. I began to see that I had the gift of teaching by teaching a small group Bible study during my college days. That gift was confirmed and refined as I continued to get further teaching experience. I now know that my gift is most effective in small to medium-sized groups, in an interactive format, with adults, etc. God will give you the same kind of direction as you seek to serve the needs of those around you.