SPIRITUAL-GIFTS
God has given
you a spiritual gift, and it is not the same as a natural ability. That natural
talent, rightly sanctified for God’s use, often points
toward the identity of your spiritual gift. But you should find out the special
gift God has given you while you’re serving as diligently as you can without
that definite information. In fact, in addition to the study of Scripture, the
best way to discover and confirm which spiritual gift is yours is through
serving.
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life,
1991, p. 124, Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. For more information please see the website www.BibicalSpirituality.org.
God’s gifts
are not given capriciously; neither are they given in such a way that the
option for their use is left with us. As the gifts are discovered they are to
be developed and used to the full in His service and to His glory. God
distributes His gifts for His purposes and for the good of His people. His
sovereign administration of these gifts must be acknowledged as right and
proper by His people, even when they cannot see the good.
Jay E. Adams
Christian Living in the Home, P&R
Publishing, 1972, p. 60, Used by Permission.
It is not
great gifts that God blesses so much as it is great likeness to Christ.
Robert Murray McCheyne
Persons
searching for their gifts think that they can “find” their gifts in isolation
from the body. They have forgotten that the orientation of God’s people is
outward rather than inward. The question should be this: How can I grow in love
for and service to the body of Christ? Gifts are the way we naturally love and
serve. To paraphrase Augustine, if you want to know your God-given gifts, first
know that the purpose of spiritual gifts is to bring unity to the church. Then
“love God and do what you feel like doing.”
Edward T. Welch
When People are Big and God is Small, P&R
Publishing, 1997, p. 204. Used by
Permission.
A spiritual
gift is a supernaturally designed ability granted to every believer by which
the Holy Spirit ministers to the body of Christ. A spiritual gift cannot be
earned, pursued or worked up. It is merely "received" through the
grace of God.
John MacArthur
Nowhere
in Scripture do we see real gifts of the Spirit operating when someone is out
of control or under some sort of supernatural seizure. Nowhere does the New
Testament teach that the Spirit of God causes Christians to fall into a trance,
faint, or lapse into frenzied behavior. On the contrary, “The fruit of the
Spirit is…self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).
John MacArthur
Charismatic Chaos, Zondervan, 1992, p. 248, www.zondervan.com.
Spiritual
gifts are divine enablements for ministry,
characteristics of Jesus Christ that are to be manifested through the body
corporate just as they were manifested through the body incarnate.
John MacArthur
1 Corinthians, 1984, Moody, p. 283.
Our purpose
should be to discover the gifts He has given us and to use those gifts
faithfully and joyfully in His service, without either envying or disparaging
the gifts we do not have.
John MacArthur
1 Corinthians, Moody, 1984, p. 159.
The reception
of a spiritual gift is not the result of prayer, fasting, tears or sacrifice on
the part of the recipient, but is a gift of grace, for the good of the body of
Christ and is received at conversion when we are baptized into that body by the
Holy Spirit.
George E. Gardiner
The Corinthian Catastrophe, 1974, Published
by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. p. 33. Used
by Permission. All Rights Reserved.
When we
exercise the gifts which Christ has given us we are really saying to our fellow
Christians and others: See how much the Lord Jesus Christ loves you and cares
for you; He has sent me to serve you in this way; He is using my hands and
feet, my lips and ears, to show His love. It is a tragic mistake if we think
that the message is: See what a superb Christian I am; see the wonderful gifts
I have… Gifts are for service, not self-advancement.
Sinclair B. Ferguson
Grow in Grace, by permission of Banner of Truth,
Carlisle, PA. 1989, p. 69.
In the
climate of our modern church, it is essential for us to realize that God’s Word
is the central gift Christ gives to the church. The major gifts of the New
Testament era were given either to write that word (apostles), apply it
(prophets) or teach it (pastors and teachers). Whenever we dislocate our own
spiritual gift from this anchor we begin to flounder in a sea of instability.
We must see to it that our gifts are fed on the teaching of Holy Scripture, so
that they grow strong and are channeled in the right direction, and so bring
glory to Christ.
Sinclair B. Ferguson
Grow in Grace, by permission of Banner of
Truth, Carlisle, PA. 1989, p. 71.
Nowhere
in Scripture do we have the slightest hint that God’s people are to volunteer. Rather, the Scriptures
indicate that the use of our gifts should be considered a joyful responsibility.
Curtis C. Thomas
Life in the Body of Christ, Founders Press, 2006, p. 91, www.founders.org. Used by Permission.
Trying to put
many biblical concepts together, I would define a gift as a combination of personal desire, natural propensities and
learned abilities. Obviously, all of this must be given to us by the grace of
God, hence a gift. And for that
reason they are often spoken of as “grace-gifts.”
Curtis Thomas
Life in the Body of Christ, Founders Press, 2006, p. 174,
www.founderspress.org. Used by Permission.
What gifts
have I received? Answer these questions:
1.
What
can I accomplish with my present abilities?
2.
What
type of service am I personally drawn to?
3.
What
have I been educated or trained to do?
4.
What
gifts do my pastors and church leaders think that I possess?
5.
What
does my family (who should know me best) think that my gifts are?
6.
What
specific needs are there in the church body?
7.
Have
I attempted to use a gift in a certain area and have regularly failed?
8.
When
have I met with success in attempting to exercise a gift or meet a need in the
body?
9.
Have
I asked my closest friends to honestly help assess where I could most successfully
serve?
Curtis Thomas
Life in the Body of Christ, Founders Press, 2006, p. 172,
www.founderspress.org. Used by Permission.
We need to
address the issue of personality and gifts tests. In my opinion, trying to make
gift assessments based on these factors alone can be risky. People can reflect
different personalities in different situations. Some people may misunderstand
the questions and mistakenly answer them. Others may force certain answers
hoping for certain results. Answers can be misread and misapplied. Therefore,
to rely solely on personality tests to help a person determine his life’s
service to God could be a serious mistake.
Curtis Thomas
Life in the Body of Christ, Founders Press, 2006, p. 173,
www.founderspress.org. Used by Permission.
Giftedness
with character is important, but giftedness without character is lethal!
Author Unknown
We must not
envy them that have greater gifts, for if we have any it is more than [our] due
or than we have deserved; and this will teach us to be contented with that which
we have had. Let us then look on what we have and give God thanks for it, and
know that if we should have more, He would give more; yea if we consider that
they that have much must make the greater account, and that we are unfit to do
so, we will thank God that we have no more than we have.
Richard Greenham
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 90.