What Exactly Does it Mean to Have a Spiritual Gift?

What is a spiritual gift? Who owns spiritual gifts? Does the giver of the gift give it to the receiver for their ownership? What does it mean to "have" a spiritual gift? Is "having" the same as "stewarding?" I suspect that the answers to these questions are muddied by modern ideas of personal property and gift-giving.

More inquiries: Does God give spiritual gifts only for service to other Christians? Does he ever just give a spiritual gift to one person for their benefit alone? Does God's grace come only to build the Body of Christ? Or is there something special that God has given to a Christian for their good alone?

With all these questions swirling, let's make some progress toward answering some of them, especially the sticky ones. As always, let's anchor ourselves in the Bible and see if we can shed some light on these spiritually important questions.

(All scriptures are quoted from the ESV)

What Does the Bible Say?

1 Corinthians 12:4–6

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone."

The first thing to notice about this verse is that the same Spirit is responsible for all of the gifts. There is unity in the gifts because the source of all spiritual gifts is God. This verse also has a trinitarian overtone with the three persons having unity (Spirit, Lord, God). So, if a spiritual gift brings disunity then it is safe to say that it is not a spiritual gift from God. Sure, sometimes people use their natural abilities to manipulate and abuse others. For example, by claiming a spiritual gift, some attempt to gather a greater honor for themselves and gain other benefits for themselves. This is expressly anti-God.

1 Corinthians 12:7–11

"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."

Again, notice the unity of the Spirit in this passage. The next thing to notice about this passage is the purpose of the gifts is for the common good of other believers. God arranged for you to be a benefit to others! Not because you are special, but because He cares about the body of Christ enough to have people (like you and me) minister (build-up) to each other. Why God gave gifts to any human being is beyond the scope of this little article. The point is that God's grace to His church is to make up for our weaknesses by giving gifts to Christians willing to step out in faith and build up other people.

We don't always know what happens when we don't use our spiritual gifts but one thing is for sure... God's kingdom is built up by them, and when we don't use them there are missed opportunities to serve God. God expects us to use our gifts for God's sake, but God is responsible for completing God's work. He uses people to accomplish his will. God will shepherd His people well and won't fail, but human participation is vital.

If you have had an opportunity to serve the body of Christ and missed it, I don't think this is a cause for regret. First of all, again God will take care of his people, albeit another avenue than you. Second, God is faithful to you also and will continue to help you grow. Be faithful to Him and he will be faithful to you.

The last thing to notice about this verse is that it is God who "wills." In other words, He chooses what spiritual gift to give and when. He takes into account a comprehensive view of your life and the life of the ones to whom you should be ministering and gives gifts as he wills. So, in the end, the spiritual gifts are His to give to Christians and will do so for the lives of believers who need His grace to be built up (common good). This doesn't preclude you from asking for specific spiritual gifts or being willing to serve other believers using your natural ability to build relationships (or any natural talent). Because God created you (your natural self and spiritual self) it is all a gift to the church in some way and can bless the lives of fellow Christians in a time of need.

1 Corinthians 12:26–31a

"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts."

We all have an ability, talent, or as the apostle Paul puts it – "gifts." Interestingly, Paul instructs us to desire the "higher gifts." So there's a hierarchy of gifts? Indeed. Paul doesn't have any trouble in the verse above saying that God is the ultimate controller of who He chooses to bestow gifts upon. Having acknowledged this, however, Paul isn't afraid of putting encouragement in his letter to believers to actively seek God's grace in their lives. What's more, Paul encourages these feelings of desire for the higher gifts. The apostle is not satisfied with a mediocre journey. He encourages the Christian to step out in faith and offer themselves to God to be used. This means that all of our talent, thoughts, actions, and feelings are pulling for the greater gifts that Paul just mentioned (for example: healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation, teaching, prophecy, etc.). Spend time in prayer asking God for his special grace in giving you spiritual gifts. Your faith is a good thing, and it activates the gifts.

So, steward your spiritual gift well and ask God, in a spiritually mature way, for more gifts, with which to serve the body of Christ. Don't be surprised when a fellow Christian in your church needs you to minister to them. The verses below are a nice confirmation of what Paul has been saying about the spiritual gifts God has given to serve the body.

1 Peter 4:10–11

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Rounding out our look at scriptural teaching on the spiritual gifts is insight from Peter. This verse is a fantastic answer to the Christian wondering why God expects the body of Christ to steward their spiritual gifts well. Why doesn't God just do it Himself? Why use people to minister to other people? The answer is actually because it is for God's sake that He gives a Christian any gift at all. Spiritual gifts bring God glory.

A helpful analog: picture an artist who paints a picture when there is a camera sitting right next to him they can utilize instead. The artist intentionally limits himself by using the instrument of a paintbrush and paints to achieve a work of art. The glory of the painter is more than if the painter used a camera to achieve their picture of beauty. Ultimately, any tool is a limit to the natural beauty of the unaided human eye.

This is how God has chosen to "paint" the body of Christ. The manifestation of the Spirit in the painting is God's action on the canvas of the church.

Are Spiritual Gifts Important?

Yes--critically important! You can have faith that God will take care of His body and the way He has selected to do that is by using people willing to exercise the spiritual gifts that God gives. If it wasn't important, the Lord wouldn't outline spiritual gifts in Scripture as He does.

What Happens When We Don't Use Our Spiritual Gifts?

When this question is asked, usually people want to know if it is going to be detrimental to their life. They want to know if God will punish them for not using their spiritual gifts for the body, or perhaps lose out on spiritual blessings or rewards. He does "chastise those he loves." The master who left one talent, two talents, and five talents was upset with the servant whom he left one talent because he refused to use his singular talent. The master was upset because the talents (spiritual gifts) were wasted and no growth (benefit) was obtained by the servant who buried the talent out of fear. And that one talent servant was cast out into outer darkness, with weeping and gnashing of teeth, yikes.

In other words, God absolutely cares about you using your talent. The sin of the third servant was not using his spiritual gifts for the body of Christ. If there is any regret, anxiety, fear, unhappiness, or any other psychological, emotional, or spiritually negative reactions to not using your spiritual gifts then you should take it as God's calling, drawing, wooing, and otherwise (pretty much begging) you to grow and become a productive member of the body of Christ. Or else there will be strict punishment on the day of judgment.

It's not About You – And it Sort of Is About You

It's about you because God expects every member of His body to grow. It's not about you because you are not the only member of the body who needs to grow. Use your talents to minister so that all members (including yourself) of the body can grow.

Live your life in a way that blesses someone else's life. Use your spiritual gift (or gifts) the way God intends them to be used. The Holy Spirit wants (wills) to give you a good gift (or gifts). Are you willing to accept the gift (or gifts) and be a blessing to the other members of your body?

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