All of us have natural gifts. Some of us are good with our hands. Some of us have good memories. Some enjoy working outside, others prefer office jobs. We are born with certain aptitudes. Some have a gift for music, others are tone-deaf. Some can become good artists, others, like myself, cannot draw well. Some are good with numbers and mathematics. For others, working with numbers is challenging. Not everyone has the same gift or ability, naturally speaking. Yet, even if one has ability, it is still necessary to practice and to nurture those skills. An Olympic athlete needs to have natural ability, but natural ability alone will never give the athlete success. Practice and training are essential. Our natural abilities that we are born with are gifts of God. Some of what has been said about natural gifts also applies to spiritual gifts. But there are differences. When a person dedicates his life to the Lord, the Holy Spirit may give him or her a special gift for furthering the Kingdom of God.
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
Naturally speaking, God gave each person their own gift or ability for their own benefit. Spiritually speaking, the Spirit of God gives spiritual gifts, but these gifts are given so we can serve God and the church better. They are given “for the profit of all” (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Not everyone receives the same gift or gifts. “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11).
In 1 Corinthans 12:28 there is a list of spiritual gifts and ministries. The first three listed are apostles, prophets, and teachers.
“God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).
Apostles, prophets, and teachers are appointed by God. But if the Spirit has bestowed such a gift to an individual, the person is still to nurture, practice and refine the exercising of that gift. What is useful for the improvement of natural abilities can also apply to the spiritual. For example, Paul writes to Timothy: “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:5-7).
Timothy is told to stir up the gift of God within him. He was also taught the Scriptures since childhood, and had the genuine faith of his mother and grandmother as helps to enhance the gift of ministry given to him. Paul encourages him and writes,
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership” (1 Timothy 4:12-14).
The Greek word for gift used here is charisma. According to Adam Clarke, the word charisma refers to “the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit, which Timothy received when set apart to the work of an evangelist by the imposition of St. Paul’s hands, and by that of the presbytery or eldership.” Timothy was chosen to be the evangelist and bishop of the Church in Ephesus. He was encouraged to “stir up the gift,” that is, to practice and enhance it.
What is your spiritual gift? Sometimes people that are a great blessing do not even know how much the Lord is using them for His glory. I know a sister who knew she was saved, and when she heard a message on entire sanctification, she went to an altar of prayer and totally dedicated herself to God. As she put it, she had decided: “behind me every bridge that leads to the world has been demolished.” After leading a Spirit-filled life for many years, she told her nephew: “I do not know that I have a spiritual gift.” “You don’t know?” He was very surprised that she did not know. Personally, I think she has the gift of hospitality. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), she considered herself to be a person who only received one talent. “However,” she said, “I did not bury it in the ground.” She did what she could. Here is someone who no doubt had a spiritual gift, but was not aware of it.
If you do not have a spiritual gift, ask God to give you one. Or if you are living a godly life, and do not know what your spiritual gift is, perhaps other Christians you know can detect a spiritual gift in you, and let you know what your gift is. And if you have been given a spiritual gift by the Lord, evangelizing, teaching, encouraging, or one of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, then “stir up the gift of God which is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6). If you do not know what it is, pray to the Lord to show you what it is or ask other Christians what they think it might be. If you do not have a spiritual gift, ask God for the infilling of His Holy Spirit, and ask the Spirit to give you a gift for service in His Kingdom. Some people confuse the term spiritual gift with the fruit of the Spirit. Every Christian must display the fruit (singular, not fruits) of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is different from a spiritual gift. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). There is one fruit with many characteristics. But there are many gifts, any one of which is there to help us serve the church better, “each one for the profit of all” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
Gerhard Mielke
Hamilton, Ontario
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