Discoverying God's Spiritual Gift For You Can Be Hard

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms" (I Peter 4:10)

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Over the last several years, it has been so exciting to see how people are discovering that God has a plan for them, a spiritual gift and a purpose for their lives.

The Bible clearly stresses that each member is a minister.

We might think of the term, "minister" and associate it with someone who serves as a minister of a church and preaches, does funeral and weddings etc. However, the bible is clear that we are all ministers and we each have been given gifts to accomplish our unique ministries that God calls us to. If one man such as "the minister" was the only one who did everything in church, then that congregation would be very limited to what it could accomplish for the Lord.

Everyone who is a Christian has been given at least one Spiritual gift from God, and sometimes a lot more than just one. It is an individual gift, tailored just for you, so that you can accomplish a great Kingdom work, and find value and purpose in life. God's Word emphasizes Spiritual Gifts. In I Cor 12: 1 the Apostle Paul says, "Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant."

When individuals in a congregation do not know what their spiritual gifts are, they cannot grow to their full potential, nor can the church. In fact, a church cannot successfully meet needs of the church or the community if every member is not using their spiritual gifts to serve others. Discovering our spiritual gifts is probably the second most significant spiritual experience we will ever have. The first is, of course, accepting Christ as our Savior.

Romans chapter 12 is a great scripture that teaches the importance of Spiritual gifts. Look at I Peter 4:10, "Each should use whatever Spiritual gift he has been given, to serve others, faithfully administering God's Grace in it's various forms." Spiritual gifts are to serve others. Christ came to serve others, thus we are fulfilling the work of Christ and carrying on Kingdom work through our spiritual gifts. There are 8 gifts mentioned in Romans 12, 11 new ones mentioned in I Cor. 12, 2 new ones in Eph. 4. That adds up to over 20 gifts mentioned in the bible and as Peter reminds us, we each have at least one!

The First Baptist Church of Modestor, TX discovered Spiritual gifts in 1967. They reorganized their activities and structured their congregation differently than it had traditionally been. Before the change, their growth rate was at a decline of 0.8 % a year. Then, their members discovered their Spiritual gifts and began using them to bring more people to Christ. Ninety-seven point one (97.1%) of the time their members gave to serve in the church was focused upon winning the lost through the use of their Spiritual gifts. You are waiting for the results aren't you. Their growth rate now stands at 388%!

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it-but we must SAIL and not drift, nor lie at anchor."

A church is like a building composed of "living stones" as it says in 2 Peter 2: 5. We have been selected by God, even before we were born, for a unique work. Then, God fashions us together. But, by ourselves, independently, we are like a big pile of coal. No beauty. No purpose.

John McAuthor says, "No local congregation will be what it should be, what Jesus prayed that it should be, what the Holy Spirit gifted it and empowered it to be, until it understands Spiritual gifts."

What actually is the definition of a Spiritual Gift? I Cor. 12: 4-6 Variety of Gifts Varieties of Services Varieties of Actives ÖÖbut it is God who activates all of them in everyone. Paul talks about gifts, service and actives (or energies) in verse 6 and it is a great translation to say, "But God who energizes them in all of us." We can gather a good definition of Spiritual Gifts from the 3 words found in this verse.

So we might say, a Spiritual gift is not a work by itself, not a ministry or office by itself, but rather a capacity which qualifies a person for a ministry. It is either a gift and the job in which to exercise it, or a job and the gift to which to do it.

What is the relationship between a Spiritual gift and a natural talent? A non-Christian may have a natural talent, but only Christians can have Spiritual gifts. That was simple. But let's expand on that. There is a link between the two. The same God who is the Creator is also the God of the new Creation, the Christian. Look at Jer. 1: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." The Apostle Paul said much the same, "he who set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace" (Gal. 1: 16, 16).

As we become Christians and grow in our faith, our objectives and motives change and different incentives drive us. Spiritual gifts are not to help comfort or strengthen us, but others. The traditional image of the local church isan overworked pastor, assisted perhaps by a small nucleus of dedicated workers, while the majority of the members make little or no contribution to the work of the church. It conjures up the picture of a bus (one driver, many drowsy passengers). Instead it should be seen as a body, all active members, each contributing a particular activity to the health and effectiveness of the whole fellowship.