The basis for spiritual gifts comes from Romans 12, verses 4 -8 “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Compassion
Compassionate people are another of the serving gifts.These are people persons, quieter and less outgoing than those with a speaking gift of perceiver, teacher or administrator. The gift of compassion includes an almost supernatural sensitivity to the emotions of others. These people get upset when a baby bird falls out of its nest and is grabbed by the neighbors cat. [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Administration
Think – bossy! As a kid administrators are always organizing the other children into teams, for work or for play. These are the people who wants to make up the rules and come up with the ideas. These are our administrators. [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Giving
Givers are just that, people who love to give whatever they have to spare. It may be money, it may be a listening ear, it may be time or ability. The blessings of giving are many and we would do well to follow the Givers example – he who gives, do so liberally, you will reap what you sow, give and it will be given unto you…are just a few biblical injunctions about giving. [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Serving
Servers come out of the womb looking for someone to help. This is the child who wanders into the kitchen while mom’s making supper and sets the table without being asked. This is also a child who wants to help little brother with his alphabet rather than working on her math problems. Servers are quiet, background people. They may be seen as shy when in reality they are observing and absorbing. Instead of making things happen, they are seeking to understand what is happening so they can find their place. [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Exhortation
To exhort means to encourage, to speak truth urging the listener to take action. Exhorters are talkers! They are also incurable optimists. Exhorters don’t see difficulties, they ignore them. This can make them seem naïve or pollyannah-ish. They want to encourage everyone to be their best and can see the potential in people. [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Teaching
The gift of teaching, like perceiving, is one of the communicator gifts, more outspoken and more of a go-getter than the server. Teachers like to research, find information and share it, academics come easily to them thanks to a higher than average intelligence.They don’t have the strong perceiver need to be right or to make sure everyone else is right because they are less interested in what other people are doing. Those with a strong teaching gift can have a hard time socially since they are more inner focused. People just get in the way of a good research project! [Read more…]
Spiritual Gift of Prophesy
Romans chapter 12 verse 6 reads ” Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;”
The word prophet can have negative connotations within the church and a full discourse on the various meanings of the word is beyond our purpose here. The meaning which I believe best represents the intent of the gift of the spirit we are talking about is: one who interprets the scripture under the inspiration of God and exhorts others to godly behavior and attitudes. John Piper calls the gift of prophesy a “forth-telling” meaning an exhortation to follow the truth of what is already written in the word of God, as opposed to “foretelling” which is predicting events which are to come.
I agree with Pastor John and in order to avoid confusion, I find using the word perception to be a more accurate one in our English language for describing the gift mentioned in Romans 12:6. [Read more…]