Finding Your Spiritual Gifts

Introduction

In John 16:7-15, Jesus introduces us to the concept of the Holy Spirit and promises His disciples that, after He leaves, He will send the Holy Spirit as an Advocate. Read the description Jesus gives about the tasks of the Holy Spirit. The gifts He grants are all actually designed to fulfill those tasks in our lives.

II Corinthians 1:21-22 says, "Now it is God Who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

This means that each person who has confessed their sin, repented (turned away from it) and, believing in his or her heart that He rose from the dead, declared Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior, is given the Holy Spirit inside to comfort and to guide the Christian on his or her journey through life.

Romans 12:4-5 tells us that "For just as each of us has one body with many members (parts), and these members (parts) do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."

I Corinthians 12:11-14 similarly tells us that "All these (gifts of the Spirit) are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as He determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized with one Spirit so as to form one body- whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (take in). Even so the body is not made up of one part, but of many."

Basically, just as your body needs all of your members (parts) to function; your liver can't work without your heart, can't work without blood, can't work without digestion . . . so the Church, and whatever local church body you belong to, can't function fully without whatever gift and role the Holy Spirit has given each member- including you!

Wait, back up a bit. 'All these gifts?' What gifts? Let's back up to I Corinthians 12:1. "Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed." Paul is saying, 'let me make this clear, since there seems to be some confusion.' He goes on in verses 2-3 to remind the Corinthian Church exactly what they were before they got saved. Then, in verses 4-7. Paul says, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God at work."

The same Holy Spirit that dwells (lives) in you to comfort and to guide you also gives you whatever gifts He deems appropriate. There are many different ones the Spirit has to choose from, but they all come from Him, from God, so that you are equipped to do whatever work the Lord has for you. This short book is designed to help you understand what the gifts of the Spirit are, how they are meant to be used, and how to know which ones you have.