Receiving and Sharing the Gifts

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.

Take a good long look at this list, now ask yourself where you fit in.  When is the last time you, through the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, performed a miracle; healed someone, or spoke in an unknown language? Are you coming up blank?  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  I think most people in the modern church don’t have a clue about these gifts.  As the name implies, these are free gifts that are given by God, through the working of his Holy Spirit, to ALL believers.  I can only speak for myself, but I love to

receive gifts, and who wouldn’t want some from this list!! There are some theologians who teach that these gifts ended upon the death of the apostles.  I’m not one of them!  Sure the early church needed all the power and energy the Spirit could muster, but what about us in 2013, are we not as needy?  We may be more advanced in medicine, technology and such, but people still long to see the manifested power of Almighty God. Yes, we’re certainly more jaded than folks in 33AD, hence, it takes more to convince unbelievers now than it did then.  What better way, to give proof of Him, than allowing us to display his gifts to everyone.

When we get an earthly gift, from someone we love, don’t you want to “show and tell”?  That, in effect, is what the gifts are about.  They are bestowed on us, from our loving Father, to edify, equip and encourage believers, and to entice non-believers into his eternal kingdom. Not sure of your gifting?  Many churches offer gifting evaluations, but the best place to start is to earnestly seek God’s direction.  Paul finishes this segment of scripture by saying this: “Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.” 1 Corinthians 12:28-31.  Believe that you are “gifted”, then go show and tell!!