July 21, 2019
Adrian Rogers
Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:1
As Christians, our desire should be that our lives count for Jesus. We were not meant to simply sit in church on Sundays and co-exist with other believers. As children of God, we are called to serve Him by serving one another with our spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”
As individual members of the Body, we serve different functions but are united in the same power. We were meant to live in unity, not in unison. Though we are ignited by the same source of strength and power, we are each assigned a specific spiritual gift distributed by the Holy Spirit Himself.
We were given our specific gifts the moment we were baptized into the Body of Christ. We just have to discover and develop these gifts as we grow as believers.
Paul identifies the spiritual gifts in Scripture: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, and mercy.
We must be careful not to exploit these gifts. The Devil can counterfeit our assigned gifts to lead the unsuspecting Christian astray. The Devil does not use raw material; he works from within our basic knowledge of Scripture and twists it to confuse and discourage.
Adrian Rogers says, “Your spiritual gift is not a toy; it is a tool. It is not for your enjoyment; it is for your employment.”
Each one of us is a gifted child, important to the Kingdom of God. It is necessary to realize our gifts, not only for our own relationships with God but for the sake of the Church.
If you do not know what your gift is, it does not mean you do not have one; you do.
Today, pray that God would reveal it to you and that you would accept whatever he has given to you as a good and grateful steward. Pray also that God would show you how you can serve in your church in a way that makes good use of your spiritual gift.
