April 21, 2010

You Have Special Abilities!!!!!!!!

Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this , , , , , , ,4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (NLT)

Reflection

It’s very hard, I think, to actually say and believe that God’s spirit has placed within one either a supernatural ability or an inborn ability which as a believer is supernaturally empowered. At least I find it hard.

Somehow it feels like bragging or, worse, it feels incongruent . . . how could undeserving me be indwelt by something of God? It just feels too presumptuous or impossible.

Yet, so it is. In fact I do believe it takes a measure of humility to admit this truth about oneself. Because to admit such a thing is to admit that it is indeed a gift (I didn’t earn it) and that it is beyond what I deserve, and it is of such a nature that having been givin such a gift carries with it the responsibility to use it in a way that honors the giver.

This passage contains only one list of gifts. In the next few days you will read other lists from the bible. It is important to note that these lists of gifts are not exhaustive, rather representative. That is, not every gift of God is specifically recorded in these lists. That’s why it’s important to experiment, to just serve. That’s by far the best way to find out what you’re good at and what energizes you and what brings you closest to God.

I’ll see you Sunday on Faith in Action Day.

(to post a comment, click on “comments” below)