ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL GIFT TEST
It has been said, “He who buries his talent is making a grave mistake.”
How true this statement is for so many Christians. God has given each believer a spiritual gift that He wants us to use for His glory, but we often don’t use it. We may deny that we actually have a spiritual gift or if we do acknowledge it, we may doubt its usefulness to glorify God, and then just bury it. But we must realize that God wants us to be involved with His work. He is so gracious that by His Holy Spirit He freely distributes gifts to all who are saved. He not only wants us to know our spiritual gifts, but He expects us to grow in them each day.
The Bible says in Ephesians 4:7 “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Also in 1 Corinthians 12:7 it says “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Then in verse 11 it states “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” So it is clear that each Christian has a spiritual gift. You may ask, So what are they for? How do I use my gift (or gifts)? Does God really want to use me?
Let us first look at the question: Why do we have spiritual gifts at all? This will help us to determine the importance of the gifts. To answer this let’s take a look at Scripture. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Here He is sharing with us a primary purpose of the gifts of the Spirit: to give the church power in order to preach Christ to the entire world. Paul says another purpose of the gifts is to equip the church for “building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). He also reminds us in 1 Corinthians 14:12 that, “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.” Therefore our goal should be to establish, build, and uplift the church with our gifts.
Still this doesn’t quite answer the big question of why. Why build up the church? For this answer lets again see what the Word says. Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” We exist to glorify God. We were created by, through and for Jesus Christ. To testify of His love, grace, and power. God wants to reconcile with us through His son Jesus, and not only with us, but all of His chosen people! That is why we, by His Spirit, are called to be a part of His work on earth. In John 15:8 Jesus says, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” By bearing much fruit, we glorify God, and we can do this by abiding in Him and using our gifts to serve Him and bring others to Christ.
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You are a special part of the body of Christ. If you are a Christian and are not serving in some way, the church as a whole suffers. It’s like missing a part of the body. You may be able to live a normal life with just 9 out of 10 fingers, but you wouldn’t be able to do certain things as well as you would like. The truth is, the body of Christ has missing parts. They are attached but are missing in action. The church is called the “body of Christ” for a reason. We are connected by our faith in Jesus Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Being members of the body, we need to work together. In 1 Corinthians 12:12 it says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” And in verse 14, “For the body is not one member, but many.” Each of us is a specific body part. It sounds strange but it is a great analogy of the church. In verse 27 Paul says, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.” If you read verses 13-27 you will see that Paul affirms the importance of each member. He also declares that we need each member to function properly as a whole body. He says, in verse 26, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” -
Yes! Contact Us to find how God has designed you to serve, and River Oak Grace will come along side you and help place you in a ministry, or have an ask, that will keep the church healthy and strong.
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”