Eight Truths about Spiritual Gifts

When I was a kid, Mr and Mrs Potato Head were popular toys. They were fun toys to play with, but they looked pretty weird if you put the eyes where the ears were supposed to go or the nose where the mouth was supposed to go. When you put each part where it was designed to go, Mr and Mrs Potato Head look great and function properly. Otherwise, they are a mess.

Sometimes we wish that everyone were just like us. It is tempting to think that the world would be a better place if everyone thought like you, spoke like you, had the same interests as you, and had the same gifts and talents as you. But the truth is that we need everyone else’s gifts to complement ours. Jesus was the only perfect person to ever live, and even he lived in community with others. God designed us to live interdependently with others.

In the body of Christ, when each of us knows our spiritual gifts and uses them in the ways that God intends us to use them, the results are phenomenal. Otherwise, we are a mess. Throughout the Bible we see spiritual gifts and God-given talents at work in and through people. In 1 Peter 4, Ephesians 4, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 we read lists of specific gifts.

Here are eight truths about spiritual gifts that we learn from 1 Corinthians 12.

1. God wants you to know about spiritual matters (v1)
2. There is only one true & living God (vv2-6)
3. There are many different kinds of spiritual gifts (vv4-10)
4. God gives every believer one or more spiritual gifts (vv6-7)
5. God decides which gift each person receives (vv6-7, 11, 18)
6. Every believer is a member of the body of Christ (vv12-13, 27)
7. Spiritual gifts are to be used to glorify God and to build up the body of Christ (vv14-20)
8. Each member of the body of Christ is important (vv21-31)

Let’s commit to use the gifts that God has given us to serve others, glorify God and point people to life-changing faith in Jesus.