![]() They are not for our personal benefit or public acclaim. Second, they’re to be used for His glory. We can always ask God in prayer to give us additional or specific gifts, but it’s up to Him to say yes or no.Ģ. We can’t obtain them ourselves, it’s wholly at God’s discretion. ![]() Note: Some of the content below is based on a book I wrote on the Holy Spirit entitled “Wind & Fire.” If you’re interested, you can get a copy of this book right here from amazon.ġ. Notice there are three parts here: it’s given, it’s to be used for the glory of God, and for the growth of the church. Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Chinnapong With that said here’s how you (and we) can shift our focus from “me” to “we” through our spiritual gifts. One of the purposes of the Spirit is to glorify Christ through us, and He does that by giving us spiritual gifts so that we can bring glory to Christ in our lives.īut since the Spirit is not only in us, but in the lives of other Christ-followers, these gifts aren’t to be used for us personally, but for the glory of God and the benefit of the church collectively. When a person becomes a Christian, dedicating their life to Christ from that moment forward, God’s Spirit comes to make His home within them (John 14:23, John 14:17). If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re probably operating within your Spiritual gifts. Let me ask a different question: have you ever found yourself doing something - whether at home, in your job, volunteering or somewhere else - where you just naturally excel? Maybe you even think to yourself: “I enjoy this and I’m good at it. Is it leadership? Teaching? Art and music? Drawing a crowd? Encouragement? Sarcasm? Procrastination? I’m a bit of a pro at sarcasm myself. And I show you a still more excellent way.If you were to take 2 minutes to evaluate what you’re good at, what you say? All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ![]() For the body is not one member, but many. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
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