What are Spiritual Gifts?
In Christian circles, we talk a lot about how God has gifted us. These conversations are characterized by how God has “wired” us: personality, talents, abilities, and the like. More often than not we bring in our results from Meyers-Briggs, Enneagram, Strengths Finder, or DISC profile, and every other personality test we have taken.
It is true that God has uniquely made us and these tests, though man made, can be helpful for us in gaining understanding and giving language for how God has made us and identify some of our strengths and weaknesses. In culture of personality tests and self-actualization, how do Spiritual Gifts come into the conversation: What are spiritual gifts? Who gets them? Why are they important? Are they just another personality test?
What Are Spiritual Gifts?
Spiritual Gifts are abilities given by God for the sake of serving others.
“Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this.” 1 Corinthians 12: 1 (NLT)
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-5
There are many kinds of spiritual gifts.
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 1 Corinthians 12: 7-10
So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Romans 12: 6-8
Who Gets Spiritual Gifts?
All Christians are given at least one spiritual gift by the Holy Spirit for the sake of building up God’s church (serving believers) and advancing His Kingdom (serving non-believers).
“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” Romans 12:4-6
Christians can have multiple spiritual gifts, but not every gift.
God chooses which gifts to give to each person.
Why are Spiritual Gifts Important?
1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 are all about spiritual gifts. The famous “love chapter” of chapter 13 is within Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts. Therefore the context of this chapter on love is not about marriage, but rather the use of spiritual gifts.
Spiritual gifts are supernatural means of loving people.
In other words, as I have heard it preached, spiritual gifts = empowered love. They aren’t unique abilities that give us significance within the church. They aren’t means of making us feel like we have a purpose. They surely aren’t given to make us famous. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts to powerfully encourage, build up, strengthen, teach, heal, lead, serve and more– both believers and non-believers alike. The result builds up Christ’s church and advances His Kingdom.