Gifts

Yesterday I was getting my Fitbit steps in at the gym. The entire town was fogged in and temperatures were dipping to well below freezing. What else could I do? I had been praying about something to blog about, but I wasn't going to blog just to blog. I really wanted to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. I pulled out my phone to the Gateway Bible app. I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to read 1 Corinthians aloud. As I did He laid so many ideas on my heart. I was overwhelmed at the amount of thoughts racing through my spirit. I wondered if I'd ever be able to remember them when I got home; let alone get them all down. I was so blessed! That's when I knew the basis of this blog would be Scripture. After all it is entitled "For His Glory". Of course it should be inspired by Scripture.

About a year ago my youngest son, Rasean, challenged me to read the entire Bible. Through a series of probing questions he discovered that was something I'd never taken on. Yesterday, as I was walking on the track, my journey through the Bible landed on 1 Corinthians. His timing is so perfect. That is exactly where I needed to be as material and ideas sprang to life and jumped off the screen at me.

I will be blogging about 1 Corinthians 1 for the next several posts.

The first thing that struck me about this chapter is Paul reassuring the church that Jesus Christ has given the church "every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ" verse 7. This is peculiar to me because He hasn't even told us what the spiritual gifts are yet. He doesn't get to that until Chapter 12. He did touch on spiritual gifts in Romans Chapter 12, but even though Romans comes before 1 Corinthians it was actually written on the heels of 1 Corinthians. So the readers wouldn't have a clue what the spiritual gifts were Paul was referring to.

Romans 12 addresses these gifts as follows: ability to prophesy, serving others, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and showing kindness to others. These are very outward focused gifts, but isn't that what a gift is? It's an outward expression of blessing someone else for no gain of our own. Before Paul even tells us what these gifts are in the book of Romans he is sure to let us know that "God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well." When he is done telling us about these gifts he immediately says, "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." So basically what you are gifted in is God's gift to you, and what you do with it is your gift back to God.

Concerning the gifts in 1 Corinthians, Paul again prefaces the gifts by stating, "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all...They are given to each of us so we can help each other." He then lists the second set of gifts as: "the ability to give wise advice, having a message of special knowledge, having great faith, the gift of healing, the power to perform miracles, being able to discern spirits, speaking in unknown languages, being able to interpret unknown languages, and again prophesying." Paul speaks of these gifts as a "partnership we enter into with Jesus as we operate in them."

So there you have it. These are the gifts given to us from God so we can pour His love out onto others. So what's the problem? Why aren't we all operating in our giftings? Why do we covet another's gifts? What is the reason for church division and lost relationship if these are the gifts?

As I looked at both Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 1, I found it curious that Paul is very quick to speak to our flesh directly after revealing the gifts. No sooner do the gifts roll off his tongue than do strong warnings follow. He tells us to "love one another genuinely. Don't just pretend to love each other." What? People pretend in their gifts to love one another? No. The entire next section of 1 Corinthians is entitled "Divisions in the Church." Weren't we just talking about gifts and how they are meant for us to edify our brothers and sisters? Now you are talking about division? What?

This isn't coincidental. As soon as we begin to identify and operate in our giftings, the enemy swoops in to snatch them away with jealousy, doubt, defeat, and division. Just as we begin to love the hard to love in a genuine way, Satan highlights their weaknesses and issues to us us with their weaknesses. He reminds us of why they are hard to love or hurts they've caused. Our adversary doesn't miss a beat.

So what is the solution? What can we do to operate in these gifts? They are so beautiful, and no believer wants to miss out on partnering with Jesus while loving another (even those who are a little more difficult to love). Paul tells us the key is to live in harmony with one another, have one mind, and being united in thought and purpose. This means we can't go around obsessing over other people's gifts. We also can't be jealous or question why we have one gift and not another. Ultimately, we have to surrender that the Lord knows much more than we do about ourselves, and He is going to give us the gifts we need for the people we encounter in life.

Whether you have been given one gift or many, being thankful for the gift(s) you have is a great place to start. Out of a thankful heart Jesus can cultivate and develop gifts as He wishes because we are yielding a stance of surrender and eagerness to exercise them toward others in the body. Also, it is much more difficult for Satan to get a foothold and cause division in a person whose heart is thankful.

As we pray about our gifts it's important to ask Jesus to place a heart in us that is His heart. Our gifts can open the doors to being able to really love people the way He loves them. Remember gifts can sometimes change. God will give you the gift based on the work He needs done, so be open to having any and all gifts as He sees fit. Resolve, too, that just because you had a certain gift in one moment doesn't mean you will use that same one in all circumstances.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is what He gives you is just that, a gift. It's something He puts a value on and bestows to you individually. We are chosen for the gifts He gives. If we choose to not exercise the gift He will choose someone else to give the gift to. In turn, we are the ones who miss out on the intended blessing. In the end we won't be judged on the gifts we wish we operated in. We will be judged on if we actually operated in and made the most of the gifts we were given.

Gifts are meant to be opened, used, treasured, and valued. After all, how many gifts did you leave unwrapped under the Christmas tree this year?

As we embark on a new year, let's ask Jesus to highlight what our spiritual gifts are. Then, we can pray that He gives us ample opportunity to use them in genuine love toward all. Let's partner with Jesus in 2018; putting all envy, pride, unforgiveness, and division aside. Let's be the catalyst that moves the church toward what it was intended to do through these gifts.