Continuing the Gift Hunt
We all have God-given gifts. They are part of who God made us to be. Too often, we just float through life without giving any real thought to what our gifts are.
We’ve been discussing gifts over the past several weeks. We started by learning to be aware of our gifts and studying the different kinds of gifts. Then we talked about where those gifts come from. From there, we moved on to how the body of Christ is made up of many different parts, each with its own purpose.
There are twenty different gifts, and so far, we have covered eight of them: exhortation, teaching, prophecy, evangelism, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, healing, and miracles.
This week, we’ll discuss five more.
- Giving: The ability to contribute material resources to the work of the Lord liberally and with cheerfulness.
- Hospitality: The ability to provide an open house and a warm welcome to those in need of food and lodging.
- Mercy: The ability to feel genuine empathy and compassion for individuals who suffer from distressing physical, mental, or emotional problems, and to translate that compassion into cheerfully done deeds which reflect Christ’s love and alleviate the suffering.
- Helps: The ability to invest the talents a person has in the life and ministry of other members of the Body, thus enabling those others to increase the effectiveness of their own spiritual gifts.
- Service: The ability to identify the unmet needs involved in a task related to God’s work, and to make use of available resources to meet those needs and help accomplish the desired results.
These gifts may happen more behind the scenes, but they are some of the most needed. They remind us that serving God isn’t always about being out front or getting recognition. Sometimes, the most important work happens when we quietly help others.
Gifts are essential to Christianity.
In his first letter to the people in Asia Minor, Paul reminds believers of the importance of loving one another and using their gifts to serve others:
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:8-11)
It is important to continue the gift hunt and figure out what your gifts are. Once you identify them, the next step is to put them to use by serving others as Jesus would.
If you would like help figuring out what your gifts are, you can schedule a meeting, and we can work together to discover them.
