Spiritual Gifts

‘They are gifted’ is a term often reserved for talented musicians and artists or successful sports personalities. The phrase refers to natural abilities that very often are supplemented with hard work and dedication.

‘They are gifted’ also refers to Christians, not a select group, but every believer in the Lord Jesus, not in the sense of natural abilities, but spiritual gifts. We can and should use the natural abilities that we have in service for the Lord, but there is a very important principle that each one has received a spiritual gift, 1. Cor. 12. 1; 1 Pet. 4. 10, DAVID NEWELL said helpfully, ‘Spiritual gifts . . . are enablements given by God through the Holy Spirit to all believers so that they can effectively function in the body of Christ’.¹

Difference of gifts in the body

Paul teaches the Corinthians that Christians make up ‘one body’, 1 Cor. 12. 12, ‘not one member, but many’, v. 14. Just as the human body needs many body parts to function in harmony, all believers need to work together using their different gifts as God has ‘set . . . [them] in the church’, v. 28, for the benefit of each other, and to the glory of the Lord.

Distribution of gifts

In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul indicates that the Lord Jesus, who has ‘ascended up far above all heavens’, v. 10, has given men, ‘some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ’, w. 11, 12. The emphasis here is on the individuals, using different gifts given by the Lord to benefit the people of God. Other teaching emphasizes the gift itself, ‘do the work of an evangelist’, 2 Tim. 4. 5. The point is that God ‘works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills’, 1 Cor. 12. 11 NKJV.

Development of gifts

Writing to Timothy, Paul encourages him to ‘neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee’, 1 Tim. 4. 14. This instruction can be applied to all of us as believers. We must not abandon or be careless with our spiritual gift. We need to work hard at it. All gifts require us to ‘study to shew thyself approved unto God … rightly dividing the word of truth’, 2 Tim. 2. 15; this instruction to study and understand the word of God isn’t just for the Bible teacher! Paul also tells Timothy to ‘endure afflictions’, when doing ‘the work of an evangelist’, 4. 5. Just as natural abilities require hard work and dedication, so do spiritual gifts!

Practical points to note

In considering your spiritual gift, the following points may help you:

• Through prayer, commit to God and be serious about your spiritual gift.
• If you are unsure what your gift is, pray about this too. Ask the Lord for help in finding ways to serve Him. As a result, you may develop a special interest in some works - we sometimes refer to this as being ‘burdened’.
• Be open to serve the Lord in a variety of ways, and work hard at the things that you commit to do.
• Consider the guidance of older believers. When I was young, I adopted a principle of trying to do anything that I was asked to do by an older believer, and this helped me identify the areas of service I was fitted to.
• Preparation is required. Paul spent three years being prepared by God for service, Gal. 1. 15-18.
• Realize that gifts need to be used to be developed.