THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT- STRENGTHS & CHALLENGES PT2✨
If you’ve grown up in church, or read your bible long enough, you’ve stumbled into 1 Corinthians’ descriptions of The Gifts of the Spirit. These are specific giftings that believers are given by The Holy Spirit for the building of God’s body. While some people may have an affinity for more than one, people usually flow in one or two of these.
What we don’t talk about enough are some of the common pitfalls/burdens associated with our gifts. We have a responsibility to steward them well. If you see yours, consider the potential challenges and how you can pray for God to grow you and refine you. ✨
Part one is here. Check out part two below.
Gift of performing of miracles
This gifting can run the gamut! In the Bible, we see Jesus perform countless miracles. He multiplies loaves of bread and fish. He walks on water. He raises his cousin from the dead! The Holy Spirit is still in the business of miracles today. While it can be interesting in a world full of AI, CGI, and deep fakes, we know the power of God is at work when it brings a true repentance and intimacy with Jesus. After all, Jesus was not performing miracles for the Oooo’s and Ahh’s. He was fulfilling prophesy in the Bible! He was saving the world and showing them a pathway to eternal life.
Challenge: Miracles draw crowds and adoration. Be careful because there can be a temptation to exploit others who are on the receiving end of the miracles. Man. Good ol’ TikTok generates millions of views of miracles. If you have this gifting, you need to cultivate a practice of submitting your heart before the Lord to be purified. What are your motivations? Who gets the glory? The devil can gain a foothold with arrogance and self-reliance. You can forget WHO is the source of the outcomes.
Prophesy
Prophecy means, “to predict or reveal something that will happen in the future, through divine inspiration”. Prophesy is woven into the word of our faith. In fact, the entire Old Testament of the Bible is a prophetic foretelling of our messiah, Jesus. Prophesy is powerful and pertinent to our current days. In fact, Acts 2:17 says,” And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams".
Challenge: Contrary to societal’s depictions of prophesy and TV’s portrayal of fortune-telling, prophetic words can be challenging ones. In fact, most prophets in the Bible were outcasts and they were ostracized for delivering difficult, but critical predictions for their time. When God speaks, He is usually calling people to himself. That may sound like correction and rebuke to others who need to hear it. If you have a fear of man and a constant desire to be well-liked, you run the risk of manipulating or withholding God’s word for people or even a generation!
Word of knowledge
Somehow, someway… you know something deep within. You didn’t see their social media, but some God has dropped knowledge into you for the sole purpose of pointing them to Jesus. I always think about Jesus and the woman at the water well. There she is, talking to the Messiah and has no clue. When the woman says she has no husband. Jesus responds with, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.” While Jesus is… well… Jesus, this is a great example of God pouring knowledge with the specific objective to draw them to God.
Challenge: Without self-control, you will share things that you were only meant to pray about. It can be intoxicating to have information and there are temptations to gossip or even judge those in front of you. It’s important to rely on the Holy Spirit to use the information in a way that pleases the Lord.
Speaking in Tongues
What a controversial gift. Ultimately, the power of speaking in unknown languages, regarded as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says, “For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit." This is one of the gifts that actually edifies the gift-haver, as opposed to the church (1 Cor 14:4). This is always so interesting, but even this gift should point us back to the goodness and holiness of God.
Challenge: The temptation here is arrogance. It can be romantic and beautiful to “utter mysteries in the spirit”. Unfortunately, we’ve seen time and time again in the church when people are more focused on appearing holy, than actually being holy. Humility reminds us that even a heavenly language is a free gift given from God.
Interpretation of Tongues
Man. This gift gets no love. the Bible talks about the order of the church and explains that if there is someone who speaks in a different tongue within the church, there should be someone who is able to interpret. This is where people get up in arms about the speaking in tongues gift, in general! While this gift isn’t nearly as shown or talked about, it is important.
Challenge: The enemy will try to feed you lies about inadequacies. If we begin to make gifts about ourselves, we compare and contrast. Instead, we have to bury ourselves in the Lord to find our confidence in Him and also to bring our insecurities to Him. Similarly, we have to trust His wisdom and know that you too can offer love and service to the body of Christ.
“I pray this equips you with insight & delivers a blow to the enemy in His attempts to have a foothold in your life. I pray you can move forward doing mighty things for the Kingdom of God. I love you.”
