"A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advise; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the powers 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. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have."
This really jumped out at me today. After praying about wisdom the Holy Spirit showed me these verses and put it on my heart to share. What is amazing about these words is that they should be uplifting and here to help us grow but we make them about our ability and what we can do. In verse 3 Paul says, "So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit." So we know when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we receive the Holy Spirit in us and we are new creations and will be shown everything we need as we step up and look for (seek) it. This is why Jesus says, ask, seek and knock, it's not so we have to earn something, it's so we can grow and be better for others.
Look at verse 7 which says, "A Spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." As we pray we should pray for all the gifts that the Holy Spirit offers but not so we can say we are gifted but to live it out so others see the Lord in us. I have heard too many people say; you have to have this gift or you should be able to do this, when that is not the case. As we work and serve the Lord with the unselfishness that Paul and the disciples showed then our light that shines will be for others and we will be living following the Spirit who will give us the gifts we need to help people know and love Jesus. The more we grow in faith by studying God's word and praying the more we will mature and the more we mature the more we do in obedience to Him. I say this all the time, it's not about knowledge, it's about applied knowledge. As we receive gifts from the Holy Spirit and we apply them for the good of others we will continue to grow and receive more, but it is still not our decision it is the Holy Spirits.
The end of verse 11 says, "...He alone decides which gift each person should have." We can't worry about what we want to get we just need to use what we get to glorify the Father. Pastor Kevin Goff from The Rock Church shared in his sermon, "The real difference in the church and the world is that we in the church should be difference makers." When we are difference makers we are not working in our own strength we are working following the Spirit of God. We need to let go of what keeps us attached to the worlds influences and really seek what God has given us in His Son (the word of God) and in the Spirit. Pray without ceasing and live knowing we have eternal life because of Jesus Christ. Amen