Concerning Spiritual Gifts

Text: 1 Cor 12: 7
MORE LESSONS: 1 Cor 12: 1-12
Bible Reading in one Year: Romans 5-8

God doesn't want us to be ignorant of spiritual gifts. Ignorance of spiritual gifts has caused a lot of havoc in the body of Christ as people are carried away by every manifestation they see. Every believer has to take the responsibility to grow by the Word of God, ...that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive: Eph 4:14.
There are nine gifts of the Spirit: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gift of healing, working of miracles, discerning of spirits, prophecy, diverse types of tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

The purpose of these gifts is to glorify the person of Jesus and confirm the Word of God; it is not to show how powerful a man of God is or to promote his ministry. Any operation that doesn't seek to exalt Jesus is not of the Holy Spirit. So anyone that will safely operate in the Spirit must be well grounded in the Word of God.

A person that is not established in the Word of God and all he does is to operate in the manifestation of the Spirit is dubious. Also the manifestation of the gifts is as the Holy Spirit wills and not as man chooses, But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will, 1 Cor 12:11. A man that operates the gifts of the Spirit like a personal ability that He could use at will without dependence on the Holy Spirit is fake. For example, the fact that a man has the gift of prophecy or word of knowledge doesn’t mean t hat he must know everything about everyone and have a word about everything all the time. Any man operating as such is going into error. The gifts are as the Spirit wills.

Finally, the gifts of the Spirit are to be operated in love. The gifts are not to expose, embarrass, dominate or intimidate people but to help, edify and build them. The manifestation of gifts of the Spirit in a member should also build the body of Christ as a whole. No man should operate the gifts in isolation claiming self sufficiency, For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ: 1 Cor 12:12. The body of Christ is one and every member is dependent on others. Anybody that claims that he is so gifted that he doesn't associate with others in the body of Christ is in error .May you be grounded in God and not be led astray by the sleighs of men. I pray also that God will anoint you with His gifts, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for the gifts one by one.
* Pray that the gift of God in your life will glorify only Jesus.
* Ask God for deeper understanding in the things of the Spirit.