Use Spiritual Gifts on Purpose! Don’t Repurpose Them!

January 5, 2014

Use Spiritual Gifts on Purpose! Don’t repurpose them!

By Mary Ann Wray

Use Your Spiritual Gifts on Purpose! Don’t repurpose them!
By Mary Ann Wray 

 “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” 1 Timothy 4: 14

We just came out of the wonderful season of Christmas and gift exchanging. This is usually the time to begin writing thank you notes to all the family and friends who blessed us with one thing or another. It’s also a wonderful time since it’s the beginning of a New Year, to take a few moments and reflect on all that God has given us and the various benefits He’s lavished upon us so generously.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” Psalms 68: 19

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8: 32

What some in the Body of Christ may fail to realize is that our Heavenly Father has given each one of us unique spiritual gifts, talents and abilities. Just like in the natural, when we receive a gift we decide if/ how we are going to use it. Our mom's taught us to say "Thank you" and usually told us to write a Thank You note to the giver acknowledging them for their kindness! However, sometimes we decide to repurpose those gifts and give it to someone else. Other times we may put them up on a shelf or in the basement and forget we have it as time goes by. However, when God gives us something He never takes it back! He expects us to use what He’s given us.

Do you realize that it is our responsibility to study and develop those spiritual gifts? They can become stagnant or worse yet, never used for their intended purpose or to their fullest possible extent!  Once God bestows them upon us either by impartation, from our mother’s womb, through the New Birth and/ or the Baptism of the Holy Spirit you and I have a responsibility to develop and use what He gives to us.

The word neglect used in 1 Timothy 4: 14 is ameleō which simply put means to be careless of, and to neglect. In other words if you bury it, ignore it or If you don’t develop it, you basically “care-less” about it. I don’t know about you, but if I give a thoughtful gift to someone and they never use it, I feel a bit insulted. My giving a gift to a person is an expression of my love for them.

A spiritual gift can never develop and accomplish the purpose for which God gave it unless you give yourself to it fully. Jesus’ parable of the talents, which in Biblical Times was a type of monetary exchange, tells us that God gives everyone at least one. Jesus used money as a relatable analogy, but he was really speaking about divine and spiritual things. (Matthew 25: 14-30)

Why don’t you challenge yourself this year to 1. Pray about what gift God has given you 2. Once He reveals it to you and/ or you discover or re-acknowledge it thank Him for it 3. Commit yourself to study your gift deeper 4. Step out in faith and begin to use it or if you already have been exercising your gift ask Him to show you how to develop and take it to the next level? Everything we do in God’s Kingdom takes faith.  Our faith is ever increasing and growing and becomes stronger the more we feed and exercise it in through spiritual gifts. We also know from the book of James that faith without works is dead!

“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” 2 Thess 1: 3 

“Faith” has gotten a bad rap over the past few decades because it has largely been taken out of the context of the cross and the fact that our faith isn’t to be used for us; it is to be used for God and others! The purpose of faith is to build up the Body of Christ and advance His Kingdom in the earth. It takes faith to step out and use our spiritual gifts. The direct object of our faith, grammatically and spiritually speaking is God’s Kingdom; not self. When we focus on what Jesus said in Matthew 6: 33 by seeking His Kingdom first and using what He’s given us to advance His work and His will, everything else will be provided. We don’t seek for blessings; they follow us as we follow Him! Remember the twin sisters in Psalms 23? They are goodness and mercy! They follow us all the days of our lives as we follow our Good Shepherd!

Find your gift(s) and discover yourself in the Bible. Study out the people and ways God used them in that gift. Lydia was a seller of purple but after her conversion she had the gift of hospitality (Acts 16: 14-15). Dorcas had the gift of helps and giving (Acts 9: 36). Perhaps you have a gift of prophecy or teaching (Acts 13:1). King David was a psalmist and wrote hymns and poetry to the Lord! Perhaps that is your gift too!

Here are a list of spiritual gifts God found in Romans 12 God gives us individually. You have at least one of these!

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your^a faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,^b do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12: 3-8

His gifts and callings are without repentance. He doesn’t change His mind or take them back. Likewise, we should honor our Father by graciously accepting the gifts He gives us and then use and develop them for His glory in thanksgiving!

Parable of the Talents:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25: 14-30