The Gifts of the Spirit %

God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will (Heb. 2:4 KJV)

Gifts of the Spirit showing a red gift box

The gifts of the spirit are special spiritual abilities given to us by the Holy Spirit to assist the believers in Christ serve God in the work of the ministry. They operate in us as spiritual “talents” giving us abilities to do things that are way beyond natural reason. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 gives us a list of many spiritual abilities such as word of knowledge, prophecy, gifts of healing and discernment.

The central word in the operation on the gifts is ministry. By ministry, I am not talking about opening a Church or some “Christian entity”. Ministry is God using us to serve others, meeting the needs of His children and those lost around us by the power of His Spirit. Ministry is essentially pouring out rivers of the Spirit out of you to give drink to those who are thirsty around you.

The gifts of the Spirit are crucial for us to effectively serve the Lord. One caveat of spiritual gifts is that they are not the person but his service. The real person who is gifted is seen through his fruit, that is lifestyle, and not his gifts. A hard pill that many of us will find so difficult to swallow is that someone may have the gifts of the Spirit still operating in their lives though they are completely out of touch with God. Nevertheless, when the gifts meet the fruit, there is a glorious explosion!

MEDITATE

What is the difference between the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit? What is ministry? (2 Cor. 3:9, John 7:37-38).

APPLY THE WORD

Do you have any gifts of the Spirit working in your life? (1 Cor. 12:1-11). The Lord wants to equip you to serve Him better. Desire the gifts (1 Cor. 12:31).