Right now, a lot of serious thought is being given to “what gift shall I get for ______?” It is fun to buy just “the perfect gift” for a loved one or friend, a gift that you are sure will please that special person; and never is it more exciting than at Christmas when, because of God’s gift to us—the unspeakable gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord—we as believers enjoy with heartfelt pleasure, in the spirit of Christ, the exchanging of gifts with family and friends.
But the gift that I have in mind—and have been thinking about lately—is not a Christmas gift; in fact, it is in no way a material gift or gift that any one of us can give to another. But it is a gift that—if you are a follower of Christ—you have received from the Holy Spirit, a gift of which Paul speaks when he said that He “gave gifts unto men,” and of which Peter wrote when he penned: “As every man hath received the (a) gift….” (Eph. 4:8; I Pet. 4:10) I am speaking of the gift that you received at the time of your salvation. It is commonly called a “spiritual gift,” and Paul said in I Cor. 12—speaking of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives—that He “divides to every man severally as He will.” (I Cor. 12:11)
Paul wrote more about spiritual gifts to the church that He founded on his second missionary trip, the Corinthian church, than to any other church. (I Cor. 12-14). He began his first epistle to this church that he called “carnal” by reminding them that “ye come behind in no gift.” (I Cor. 1:7) It seems contradictory, to be sure, that the Corinthian assembly was a body of gifted individuals. Yet Paul lamented that he could not speak to them “as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” (I Cor. 3:1)
One can be a (spiritually) gifted person, then, but also carnal. God, by His Spirit, has gifted for service every follower of His. This is not to be confused with an individual being talented or naturally skilled. Spiritual gifts are not to be confused with natural abilities or talents. Gifts of the Spirit are given by the Spirit for service to and in the Body of Christ. The purpose of these gifts is “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12) Some of the gifts are listed in this Ephesian passage: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.” (Eph. 4:11) Other spiritual gifts are enumerated in Romans 12:6-8. That passage lists the gifts of prophecy, ministering, teaching, exhortation, giving, administration, and mercy.
There are other gifts mentioned also. Interestingly, some of the gifts were “sign” gifts, given temporarily to the Apostles, especially for the Jews in the transitional time of the infant church—from a solely Jewish body, to a Jew-Gentile body, to a body in which there was neither Jew nor Gentile. Paul said that the “Jews required a sign” (I Cor. 1:22), and he spoke of the signs of the Apostles that had been “wrought” among them in wonders and mighty deeds. (II Cor. 12:12) There would come a time when the need for these extraordinary manifestations of God’s power would cease (I Cor. 13:8), but there would never come a time when the need for the “service” gifts would cease.
And, friend, that is true at the present hour. If you are saved, you have been saved to serve. Not only that, you have been divinely equipped by the Holy Spirit to serve in the Body of Christ. So, what is your gift? Exhortation, administration, giving, teaching, helps? To not use a gift given by God specifically for use in the building of His Body, the Church, would be a grave disservice to the cause of His kingdom.
So, what is your gift? How are you using it today in the edifying of His Body, the Church?
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy…or ministry…or teaching, or exhortation, or giving, or ruling, or he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8)
YOU and GOD 