Last Sunday JB talked about spiritual gifts, and as he
was talking I couldn’t help but immediately think about some of my friends and
family.
Below is my list of loved ones I thought of as he listed off spiritual gifts J This is my thank you, recognizing that you using your gifts—and using them well—they have impacted my life!
P.S. I tried to write out everything JB said about each
gift, but we know that man talks fast! So
I included a link to the video and the time he starts talking about that
specific gift, if you’d like to see more…
The Gift of Teaching - 16:00 - Divine enablement to understand, clearly
explain, and apply the Word of God to the lives of God's people. Now
people with this gift tend to enjoy studying, they tend to enjoy researching,
they tend to enjoy understanding, they like taking a bunch of information and
sorting through it and synthesizing it and being able to package it and pass it
along in a very clear and compelling way. They tend to personally have a
thirst for learning and kind of a passion...they enjoy communicating at times. Mario—I couldn’t help but
think of Mario. I think back to the
early years, being taken under his wing and really being discipled by him as a
baby Christian. This man has an unquenchable thirst for learning and a
love of it, too, which really shows in how he teaches those wanting to learn. He gets excited about teaching!
The Gift of Leadership - 18:23 – Divine enablement to instill vision, to
motivate, to align people and resources toward a God inspired vision.
People with this gift of leadership tend to be big pictures thinkers,
tend to be vision casters, tend to motivate people, tend to have very low
tolerance for the status quo…They are always thinking how something could be
better…You’re always thinking about what could be. Trevor—I couldn’t not
think of Trevor as JB talked about being innovative and an entrepreneur with a
mind that doesn’t stop racing with new ideas. I believe Trevor to be an
incredible leader. He has the heart for
it, and also the determination for the follow-through on his plans.
The Gift of Discernment – 19:36 – Divine enablement to distinguish truth
from error or deception. People with the gift of discernment have an
extraordinary ability or a sixth sense, an ability to see when teaching is
wrong or off. People tend to want to warn others and tell others that
things are not quite right, something is off…those with the gift of discernment
can make great counselors. Donna—One of the wisest
people I know—which is difficult to admit J—but
she’s always right on the money with Biblical knowledge, being able to admonish
people in love, and reading people’s true personalities. And she really is a great counselor. I have hopes that she’ll pursue that path one
day because she is just so wise and personable.
The Gift of Exhortation – 22:34 – A divine enablement to encourage, to be
a blessing to individuals…to use words, written, spoken, texts, emails…to
encourage the faint-hearted to breathe life into someone who is discouraged, to
urge people to action, to have a genuine concern for people and a want for
people to be encouraged and feel better about their life or their situation. Whitney—This girl makes me smile whenever I’m around her. You can’t
help but feel encouraged by her faithful, joy-filled spirit. She always
has a smile on her face and always a kind word to speak. I love being around her, because no matter
how short, the time spent with her is like a recharge. She is directly connected to The Spirit and
is like a fountain He flows out of into others around her.
The Gift of Faith – 25:00 – A divine enablement to trust God’s will
and act upon it in a seemingly unwavering belief in God’s ability…they remind
us that God is big, strong faithful he is there They remind us that He’ll act
on our behalf…they take bold risks for the Kingdom. Danielle—Talk
about follow-through! If this girl had nothing but her faith, man—she’d
be ok! She’d be better than ok! Talk
about being a faithful follower of Christ…this girl will follow Him to the ends
of the earth if she hears his call, and she is! Whenever I forget how
great God is, I look at Danielle and her life and all He’s done and continues
to do and am reminded, not only by her words, but by her very life that He’s
alive and bigger than we tend to remember.
The Gift of Administration – 26:36 – A divine enablement of executing
decisions made by managing time, and people and resources. It’s an
ability to plan and execute procedures…In fact you tend to think in terms of
and come most alive once the why questions are answered. You love tasks,
you love to get things done, you love to think it out then act. Love
creating order out of chaos. My Momma—When something needs to get done,
my momma does it! I’m pretty sure I get
my gift of making lists from this woman!
She is on top of everything!
The Gift of Evangelism – 28:32 – A divine enablement to share the gospel
clearly, frequently, and compellingly. Cheri—I mean, have you met
my mother-in-love? She oozes Jesus. She oozes love. She’s
like a bucket of joy that splashes joy on others, and she can share the love of
Jesus at the drop of a dime with anyone, anywhere.
The Gift of Giving – 29:40 – A divine enablement to take time, talent,
money and give them in an extraordinary way...an inordinary amount of passion
and desire to steward money, not just money, but time. Savannah—This girl has
made me feel so loved at the darkest points in my life. When I had
nothing else to give, she gave. She gave of herself. She gave of
her money. She gave of her time, effort, and energy. She makes
people feel loved. She’s a nurturer and I know she finds joy in it,
because she wouldn’t do it if she didn’t.
The Gift of Shepherding – 32:25 – A divine enablement to relate to people
in a way that encourages and helps and serves them…to help people, through
relationship, transfer truth, wisdom, life skills in a very relational way that
helps grown them. Kimberly—I am where I
am today because of this girl. Spiritually, emotionally,
career-ically. She’s been there, taking me under her wing and guiding me
whenever I’ve called on her for help. Always provides a listening ear,
always careful to process everything. She is so wise, so kind, and so
funny, and I love her, and words can’t describe my thankfulness for God putting
her in my life to shepherd me.
The Gift of Service – 34:24 – A divine enablement to help, these are
the men and women that show up early stay late…lots of behind the scenes. Lindsay—Whenever I’ve
needed someone, anyone—Lindsay has stepped up to plate. I don’t even have
to call her name and she’s there. She doesn’t ask for recognition, she doesn’t
ever have an attitude of entitlement for gratitude, she just serves. She
has a servant’s heart. And I am amazed at how much she loves me.
For service, I
also can’t forgo mentioning my
beloved husband. I am so blessed to be loved by a servant-hearted man
who loves me unconditionally. He goes to the ends of the earth for me
without me even asking him to go to the end of the block. He does a
million times more than I ever even have to ask, loving me in such a godly
way. He anticipates needs, he cares for
me in a way that no man ever has before and I recognize every piece of effort
and love he puts into this marriage and me as his wife. I’m stunned at
his ability to love and so grateful to God for His gift of this man in my life.
At the end of the sermon, JB wraps up by throwing out the
question, “Why is it important to know our spiritual gifts?” It’s because
while we’re here on this earth, we are supposed to be stewarding all we are and
all we have, investing what He’s given us back into His Kingdom.
And you have a gift. If
you’re reading this and you don’t know what yours is yet, just know that you
have one—something to use, something to give.
JB said, “…the local church is to be full of
Christ-followers entrusted with spiritual gifts that they're to use to build
each other up. Look how Peter talked about it in 1 Peter 4: Each has received a gift—so not some within the body, not some Christians get spiritual gifts, please
underline and triple underline EACH, not those who decide to do ministry
vocationally...not those who go on staff at a church—EACH has been given a gift, use it to serve one
another...as good stewards...of God's varied grace. …it's about our
contribution to love and serve others well.”
Here’s some tips from JB on
figuring them out:
·
What’s your first reaction when you hear of a
need or a problem that needs to be solved? Whatever your gut reaction is,
whether you act on it or not, it’s an indication of your spiritual
gift. Do you want to give money? Do you want to advise, encourage?
·
What do others say about you? Pay
attention to what people are consistently commenting on about you.
Whatever is consistently commented on, that’s an indication of a spiritual
gift.
·
Take a test, maybe like this one,
and then take the results and ask the five people who know you best for their
thoughts. Others can see us better than we see ourselves.
Just a note, you may never see the fruit of your labor—how
you’ve changed somebody’s life—we actually rarely get to see that, but know
that by merely being you, you impact people.
