Rev Gav

How do we use our spiritual gifts?

1 Corinthians 12.1–11

I suppose it makes sense. If you love someone then you want to bless them, and if God loves us then it is only natural that God wants to bless us. Not only has God given us the Holy Spirit to make home in us, but the Holy Spirit herself wants to endow us with gifts.

I have taught about the nature of the Holy Spirit many times, and if there is one phrase I hope sticks, it’s that the Holy Spirit, “is always outward-looking and always looking to the interests of others.” Yes, the Spirit is given to comfort and guide us, but by very nature, the Spirit in us is seeking to bless others. Therefore, when it comes to Spiritual gifts, it should come as no surprise that those gifts are for the benefit of others. In our Bible Reading from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, it is easy to focus on the gifting as being for us rather than to be given away. Paul wrote, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Spiritual gifts are simply the expression of the Spirit in and through us for the benefit of someone else, and because each one of us is unique, the expression of those gifts is going to be unique to us. One of the mistakes the church has made is to treat the list of spiritual gifts as gifts in their own right — to be used on their own — but they are the ways in which God’s Spirit is manifest through the actions of believers. The way the Spirit will manifest through you will be different to the way in which the Spirit will manifest through me. How exciting and wonderful is that?

Another mistake that has been made is that the spiritual gifts are to be used only in the context of worship, but this is not the case. The Holy Spirit very much equips us for our ministry and mission in the world. Sure, Spiritual gifts can be used in church worship, but in the same way you do not keep your tools in a box but take them out, Spiritual gifts are to be used ‘out there’ in the wider community; to build up the people of God and be a blessing.

Now, there is a difference between being practically skilled or gifted in something and spiritual gifts. For example, if I use my practical skills and gifts for my own personal gain, well, you can be sure that I am not operating ‘spiritually’. And if we simply exercise our gifts without any regard to the Spirit living in us then sure, they may be helpful, but it is like operating on half power and ignoring the giant turbo-booster that can take our gifts to a whole new level.

So back to those gifts in Paul’s letter. They are spiritual gifts, and when combined with our own practical gifts, skills, and talents, supercharge them. Our practical gifts are to be married to our spiritual gifts, and if you think about them, the spiritual gifts are not a whole lot of use on their own! Let’s list them:

wisdom
knowledge
faith
healing
powerful deeds
prophecy
discernment
speaking in tongues
interpretation of tongues

What is wisdom without it be applied? What is tongues without being able to deftly communicate a message? Because spiritual gifts are to be used alongside our practical gifts, our personal skills and talents matter, therefore what are yours? What is your natural wheelhouse, where you operate? What is ‘your thing’?

For example, if you are naturally gifted with numbers and finances, which spiritual gift would take that to another level? It probably will not be healing but most likely be discernment or wisdom. Can you imagine what it would be like to be a financial advisor who accepts and works in the spiritual gifting of discernment and wisdom to make sound choices on behalf of others?

Or, let us say you are gifted pastorally and are a great listener. Perhaps you work in healthcare? Which of the spiritual gifts would make a massive difference to the way you bless others with your care? Healing would be pretty cool!

You see, God is not going to disregard who you are and what you bring to the table. God wants to work with you, not against you! God made you incredibly and wonderfully creative and longs to bless you in your creativity, to spiritually supercharge you, so that God can bless others through you.

Like all matters to do with the Holy Spirit, we can choose to allow the Spirit to work through us or not. The Spirit is not subject to our wills but also will not override our wills. In other words, we can disregard and can go about life with no recourse to the Holy Spirit — leaving the Spirit on the shelf so to speak.

We need to be conscious of the Spirit in our day-to-day lives, especially when we apply our practical skills and talents, to not work on our own but work with God. In fact, this process of becoming aware is called ‘prayer’. Prayer is about awakening ourselves to the presence of God in our lives, to open the door to God’s power, and to permit the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. It is why countless Christians through the ages have found a ‘quiet time’ at the beginning of their day so essential; time tuning into the voice of God, aligning ourselves with God’s will, and opening ourselves to see others as God sees us. How good it is to enter each day full of expectation for what God is going to do in and through you, to be awake and alert to what God might be doing, and join in.

With God, nothing is wasted. You may think to yourself that you have no particular skills or talents or gifting, but who you are in your very person is a gift. You are unique and there is only one of you — with your personality and your set of relationships — right here and right now existing in the world. Every interaction or conversation is an opportunity for God to work through you, especially in the mundane, everydayness of life. You can be supercharged with the Spiritual gifts therefore, as Paul wrote two chapters later, “Eagerly desire the spiritual gifts.” Pursue them, lean into them, and practice them.

So, today, may you be filled with the Holy Spirit, may your life be supercharged, and may you be a blessing to your family, to the church, and to the world.

Amen.