Do you know what your spiritual gift is?

[00:00:06] Today's episode is entitled, Do you know what your spiritual gift is? And the scripture I want to use is in Romans 12 verses 6 through 7. It says, Having Then Gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,

[00:00:50] whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith or ministry. Let us wait on our ministry or He that teach it on teaching or He that exhorts with simplicity. He that rules with diligence, He that shows mercy.

[00:01:09] So those are the gifts that Paul is referring to in the scripture. But it's important for you to understand if you are studying to become a competent biblical counselor, You must and create a study to find out just what it is.

[00:01:25] And hopefully you can create a greater understanding of just what your gift is and how you can use it. And at the same time, you might have some people calling you that are frustrated with the purpose of life. They don't know what their role is in the church.

[00:01:39] It will help them also to identify what their spiritual gift is and how to use it within the body of Christ. I find a book that's entitled, Ministers Through Spiritual Gifts by Charles Stanley. He's got some excellent points in it.

[00:01:53] And if you want to further study, start a small group, get that book and read it. I'm going to point out some things that I learned in this book and maybe you'll learn something right now. Okay, so let's get started.

[00:02:06] These gifts that I'm referring to are spiritual in nature. So they are, they're not going to be understood by anyone who does not have a relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals this spiritual gifts and their use.

[00:02:22] And those who have not accepted Christ as a Savior do not yet have the Holy Spirit residing in them. Therefore, if this study should only be undertaken by those who are followers of Christ and who desire both to know and to use their gifts effectively.

[00:02:38] So in this episode, we're going to use the terms of motivational gifts and ministry gifts interchangeably. These are the spiritual gifts that motivate you to minister to others. They are the ministry gifts and that they are always intended to build up others in the body of Christ.

[00:02:59] So right off for that, let me ask this question. Do you know your innate spiritual gift? Have you identified the most important gift that God has given to you for the purposes of ministry in His name?

[00:03:16] Yet this now, every Christian has been given a spiritual gift from God. A gift designed to be used as part of the body of Christ and for the purpose of assisting others. All believers get that. All believers receive these gifts.

[00:03:34] The moment they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. These gifts are intended to be the main avenue through which a person ministers to others within the church as a whole. I'm referring to these gifts as motivational gifts. For they are intended to motivate you toward service.

[00:03:57] They are gifts that compel and inspire you to act in specific ways. They are the particular bent that you have to serve God's people and others who you desire to see become Christians.

[00:04:12] I believe it's virtually important to your personal spiritual life as well as the overall spiritual life of the church for you to recognize these gifts. To encourage their proper use in the church and to encourage one another as you exercise them.

[00:04:30] Several things about these motivational gifts are a vital for us to acknowledge that the outset of this study. First, every person has received a motivational gift.

[00:04:43] Some people may seem gifted with a number of these types of gifts but there is going to be one covered in this episode that will be dominant in a person's life. The Lord instills that gift in a person. This is important at His or her birth.

[00:05:03] And it becomes fully operative for its God given purposes when that person is born again. Second, the motivational gifts are intended to be used in the church for building up God's people. Get that. That is very, very important.

[00:05:23] Is the Apostle Paul wrote, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. That's in 1 Corinthians 12.7. Each of the motivational gifts may be employed in the flesh or employed by the person for his or own personal gain. When this happens, disaster follows.

[00:05:43] The misuse of the gifts is actually counterproductive to the work the Holy Spirit desires to do in us individually and in the church as a whole. We must, thus, rely completely on the Holy Spirit to assist us in the use of our motivational gifts.

[00:06:02] Third, God has commanded us to use these gifts. Peter wrote, as each one has received a gift. Minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. That's in 1 Peter 410.

[00:06:19] Paul advised Timothy, do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on him hands of the eldership 1 Timothy 414. The Bible is clear that God has given us the motivational gifts for a purpose.

[00:06:38] We are not to neglect our responsibility to uncover our gifts and learn how to use them effectively in the church. Fourth, the motivational gifts reside in the believer. The New Testament identifies certain gifts that reside in the Holy Spirit.

[00:06:58] Such gifts operate as this spirit wills and may be manifested in a believer's life from time to time. You need to see 1 Corinthians 12, 8 through 11 for a list of these types of gifts. However, the motivational gifts are built into our personalities as believers in Christ and our permanent.

[00:07:21] For instance, we will not manifest the motivational gift of prophecy for 6 months. And then shift to a motivational gift of service for the next 3 years and then shift to another gift. Furthermore, the motivational gifts span the course of our lives.

[00:07:38] They may manifest in slightly different ways in different situations with varying degrees of intensity, but the intensity of the gift. It remains intact and is at this unchangeable. Fifth, we each have a responsibility to discover and use our spiritual gifts.

[00:08:01] The more we learn about our spiritual gifts, the greater the responsibility we have to use them for the benefit of others. The first thing we must recognize is that we have a motivation of gift given to us by God.

[00:08:16] We must then recognize which of the gifts have been given to us. This is a major step for many believers who have never considered themselves to be gifted by God in any particular way. Let me repeat that. You have been given a motivational gift by God.

[00:08:39] You bear this as part of your identity. It is your personality. You are responsible for identifying your gift, developing it and using it for the glory of God. The more you use your motivational gift, the more you will grow in it.

[00:08:56] And the more the Holy Spirit will be able to use you in it. Now here's another very interesting fact. The church was not designed by God to include spectators. Every person within the church, which is the greater body of Christ, is expected to be vibrantly alive and active.

[00:09:17] Each one, using his or her motivational gift at all times, ending as many situations as possible. Each believer being open to use by the Holy Spirit as he wills in the manifestation of other spirits of gifts.

[00:09:34] So many people in the church are sitting on the sidelines just watching others take active roles. In fact, it has been estimated that 80% of those who attend church regularly watch the other 20% do the work. The phenomenon is called the 80-20 rule.

[00:09:54] Jesus understood this tendency of people, even those among his followers to want to sit back and just observe what is happening around them. As we read in the Gospel of Luke, after these things, the Lord appointed 70 others also and sent them to by two.

[00:10:12] Then he said to them, the harvest truly is great. But the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest has sent out laborers into his harvest. That's in Luke 10, who will one through two.

[00:10:26] In many ways it is similar to athletes who choose to sit out for all or part of the season. While there may be good reasons for these athletes to make this choice. Their decision not to use their particular gifts, talents and abilities is detrimental to the team.

[00:10:45] Teams forks are dependent on all of the members showing up and doing their particular roles. When one person is missing, it is like a puzzle that is a missing piece. The other players on the team have to stretch and adapt to fill the missing players' role.

[00:11:03] So when believers in Christ choose not to use their gifts, it is detrimental to themselves to those in the church who are active and to the work of the Lord as a whole. It certainly is not God's desire or design.

[00:11:17] Rather, God desires all believers to be active and the use of their gifts, so they will grow more and more into the fullness of what he intended in their lives from the moment of their creation.

[00:11:31] He desires for the work within the church to be evenly distributed so that no one reaches a state of overload or burnout. And he desires that the work of the church as a whole will be balanced, vibrant and affected to each lost for Christ.

[00:11:49] So I would encourage you to continue this study on your own. There are many, many resources on the utilization and the identification and the definition of various gifts. There are 18 gifts in the New Testament, by the way.

[00:12:03] Find the one that's yours, the one that God designed for you to use. And you'll be so blessed as well the others who are receiving the blessings to come from your using your gift. Have a blessed day.