Spiritual Gifts

We need to see them in the correct light

There’s a few mistakes we make about spirtual gifts

There’s two basic words

χάρισμα

This word essentially means, ‘expressions of grace’

πνευματικός

This word means, ‘expressions of spirit’

There are a few foundations to understanding spiritual gifts

so I wanted to go through 5 practicals about spiritual gifts. and in the coming weeks, we’ll talk about the what and how about spiritual gifts in our life. but we need to start here.

After each point, I’ll give a question you can ask. These questions i think get right to the root of how we can properly seek out spiritual gifts.

Spiritual gifts start with love

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NIV

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Paul takes the big foundations of what WE would call a successful faith - someone who can speak in tongues, prophesy, understand everything, accomplish great feats of faith, give sacrificially, and embrace suffering - and he says, guess what, all these gifts are ‘second place’ to love.

Paul basically says, without love, you’re not doing anything, you’re not gaining anything - in fact, you aren’t anything at all.

That’s a really, really sobering reminder about how God’s body works. and I mean, he’s warned us about this before. John says that if we say we love Christ, and we hate a brother or sister - that we’re lying, we don’t actually love Christ. Jesus says, the world will know we’re his disciples by how much we love each other.

So, question 1 -

How can I love people?

Spiritual gifts are about giving grace

1 Peter 4:10 NIV

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

The concept of practicing spiritual gifts can be described as ‘stewarding God’s grace in it’s various forms’

what would it look like in our life to say ‘I want to be able to show more people god’s grace’ instead of ‘I want to be able to do something really cool!’ or ‘I want to feel like my faith is more powerful!’ or ‘man, I wish i could do what THAT person does’

Question 2:

How can I serve to show God’s grace?

Spiritual gifts are natural expressions of the body of Christ

Spiritual gifts aren’t some fancy things that happen randomly to certain people. They’re joints and ligaments, nerves and tendons, all the things that bring the body together.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10,24-26

1 Corinthians 12:8–10 NIV

To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:24–26 (NIV)

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,

so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Paul is saying, this thing about gifts, it’s about God putting the body together. Some people need more work, some less, but the goal here is, everybody caring for everybody else.

Paul’s not saying, if you guys want to be a good body, suffer and rejoice with others. He certainly means that. But he’s saying something deeper. He’s saying that, if you operated with no division, that even down to the practicing of your gifts you’re taking care of each other by default - you’ll be the kind of body that god wants, where if someone else is suffering you all feel it, and if someone else is honored, you’ll all be happy for them.

How can I help my church?

Spiritual gifts are focused on the common good

1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

This one seems obvious, but it’s not. If we examine our hearts, many times, our motivations are very individual.

But there’s a shift here. If we believe that it starts with love, it’s about dealing out grace, and this is just a natural part of being together - then we need to see our gifts not as ‘what can I do?’ but as ‘what can I do FOR OTHER PEOPLE’

That’s how the spirit does spiritual gifts. He looks around and says, ok, what can I do in this person’s life in order to help others.

What can I do to help others?

We are expected to want to grow in spiritual gifts

Now, we kind of naturally start here. But for the wrong reasons.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit

I’ve found it’s helpful in my head often replace a term in the scriptures with a longer sentence that better represents it.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire to show grace and do your part to serve others so that the entire body can grow

This seems a lot clearer, doesn’t it? So there’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘God, give me a spiritual gift’. But we have to mean the right thing.

God, help me to show more grace

God help me to show more love

God help me to do more for your body

God help me to serve people more

So here’s my final question for you to ask:

How can God do more through me?

In my studies, I heard someone say that it was more helpful to look at spiritual gifts as ‘What can *God* do THROUGH me’, instead of ‘What can *I* do for God’

When you pray...

So for the next few weeks, we’re gonna explore spiritual gifts. But when you go home, when you pray, I want you to ask yourself and God those 5 questions:

How can I love people?

How can I serve to show God’s grace?

How can I help my church?

What can I do to help others?

How can God do more through me?