skills

My husband Ray occasionally brings home spontaneous gifts for me that he thinks I’ll enjoy: fresh flowers, jewelry, a pretty scarf, or chocolate. He often chooses something unique because he knows I love things that stand out.

Today he bought me a red-wine wrap, silver ruby necklace with matching earrings, and a Hershey chocolate bar.

The red-wine wrap he bought me:

The silver ruby costume jewlery – a necklace with matching earrings:

And of course, you can NEVER go wrong with chocolate!

One time Ray bought me this wall art for my office as a gift, because he knows about my strong feelings for chocolate.

Just as Ray gives me gifts, God has given each of us spiritual gifts, talents, and skills for His glory. You can find a list of the spiritual gifts in the Bible in:

• Ephesians 4:11 (5-fold ministry gift)
• 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
• 1 Corinthians 12:28
• Romans 12:6-8.

You see Jesus operating in every single one of the spiritual gifts in the gospels. His disciples did, too. We as believers in Christ are given these gifts from Jesus that He gave us when He ascended into heaven after His death. (Ephesians 4:8).

The gifts are never about us; they’re for God’s glory. You can’t “earn” the spiritual gifts; they are just what they’re called ~ a GIFT from God to you, out of His grace.

Your gifts are closely tied to your purpose and calling. Two great resources I recommend about the gifts and calling are Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit by Lester Sumrall and Step Out and Take Your Place by Krista Dunk.

Lester Sumrall’s book practically teaches you what the gifts are and how they are to operate in the Body of Christ, and Krista Dunk’s book is the most thorough book I’ve ever read on the spiritual gifts and your calling. Both are excellent.

If you’d like to find out what your spiritual gifts are, some churches offer tests or you can take spiritual gifts test online:

• Spiritual Gifts Test Inventory
• Spiritual Gifts Test
• Bible is True Spiritual Gifts Test
• Finding Your Place in Ministry Test

I encourage you to find a good, Bible-teaching church whose leadership believes in the spiritual gifts and allows the Body of Christ to flow freely in them during services. The gifts didn’t pass away with the death and ascension of Jesus or the death of the apostles (a teaching called Cessationism, which I do not agree with or believe due to my own personal walk and experience with God). 

I grew up in the Methodist Church, where the gifts were not taught. I never heard of them until adulthood when I met my friend Wendy and my husband Ray.

At that time, our pastors Al and Victoria Ridge, prayed for me and I was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and after then, I began learning about and operating in the spiritual gifts God had given me.

One of the amazing things that happened to me following this milestone,  life-changing event in my life was that I had such a hunger for prayer and reading the Bible much more, to learn as much as possible about God, and to repent of sin more quickly.

I understood the Bible in a way that I hadn’t before. God began revealing the Scriptures to me in a new light. I had a passion to spend more time with God, to read the Bible, to tell people about Jesus Christ, and to learn about and use my spiritual gifts.

My strongest gifts are prophecy (especially the word of knowledge), discernment, teaching, and giving. What are your spiritual gifts? Leave your comments below.

Whatever your spiritual gifts, talents, and skills are, use them for God’s glory and to encourage and help others. I believe that time is so short now and that Jesus is coming back very soon. We need to use God’s gifts. Don’t put your gifts on the shelf or think God doesn’t want to use you, because He does. 

Be a faithful steward of all God has given you and He will reward and bless you. (Matthew 25:14-30, NASB)

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” – 1 Peter 4:10