- Spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talents. Having a talent means you can do something well. Having a spiritual gift means you have been given a special ability (anointing) to do something well because of the power of the Holy Spirit within you. God created us with certain natural abilities and then spiritually gifted us with certain gifts. Can they overlap? Certainly. Sometimes our spiritual gifts are spiritual "extensions" of a natural talent. On the other hand, our spiritual gifts can sometimes provide special abilities where we lack naturally. Either way, we recognize that our God is incredibly detailed and knows in advance what to give us naturally or SUPERnaturally so that we can do what He has called us to do.
- Spiritual gifts do not allow us to make excuses for not fulfilling our roles as Christians. For example, just because we do not have the gift of evangelism doesn't mean we don't continue to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. And just because we don't have the spiritual gift of mercy doesn't mean that we have an excuse to be unkind or negligent.
- My spiritual gifts are not for bragging rights. Every believer has been given spiritual gifts. Even though some gifts are more visible than others, there is no gift that is superior. There is also not a gift that is inferior. All our gifts are necessary in the body of Christ for it to function as God intended.
- My spiritual gifts are not to be used without having love as a motive. Any other motive is selfish, and my gift is no longer being used in the power of the Holy Spirit. LOVE is imperative.
So, what do you think? Has this been helpful? I hope so. And if you need to take a spiritual gift assessment to help you discover your gifts, I have included a link below to another site where you can either complete the assessment online or download it. Remember, assessments are only to be used as directional tools. If you feel you have a gift in which you do not score highly on the test, feel free to still include it as one of your gifts. You will notice that the inventory that I am linking to is not exhaustive and does not include all of the gifts. Again, this is just for discovery and directional purposes. And this inventory is free! There are others online and in stores that you can pay to take. Even still, no assessment is perfect or complete. We must rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the affirmation of others to truly know what our gifts are.
Feel free to comment with any questions and I will get back with you. I LOVE YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS and will answer them by responding in the comments or in another blog post.
Have a great weekend. Don't forget to be thankful for the gifts you have!
Unwrapping the gifts - the spiritual ones,
Kelli
4 comments:
I love Don and Katie Fortune's Spiritual Gift series. They taught me how to realize I don't have to be ALL the gifts but just what God called me to be. Yes, I can work in each gift - but I don't have to excel at each gift - and that each gift is a double-edge sword that needs skill development to use it positively.
I have heard of the Fortune's, but have not read their material yet. Thanks for the reference. I absolutely agree that we don't have to excel in all the gifts...I always say, if we had all the gifts, we wouldn't need each other! thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting!
I took the inventory quickly just as an overview and was surprised by what showed up. Hmmmm.
My favorite teaching on spiritual gifts is from Henry Blackaby. He says the Spirit is the gift. Amen! I believe that we have certain gifts, but I also believe that the Holy Spirit can manifest any gift in us at any time of the need arises.
Thanks for this series-- I love it!
Leslie
I so agree, Leslie! God is gracious to gift us in any situation with whatever gift we need. We should operate in our spiritual gifts at least 80% of our ministry time.
And I will check Blackaby's teaching out. Always eager to study other's stuff.
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