More About The Believer (3): Gifted By God

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”

Ephesians 4:7 KJV

This verse above introduces us to an aspect of the life of the believer in Christ that is extremely vital. Yet from my interactions with people, I have come to realize that many people do not walk in the reality of the truth this verse expresses. Not only has God made us alive in Christ, broken down every barrier and granted us unfettered access to Himself, He has also given every believer spiritual gifts and enablement.

While a detailed exposition of the subject is not the aim of this post, it is important to point out that every believer has a gift measured out to him/her by Christ. There are 4 passages in the New Testament that deal with this in detail and I advise you to study these passages carefully. As an aid to remember them I usually think of them as the “2 chapter 4s” and “2 chapter 12s” (Ephesians 4, 1st Peter 4, Romans 12 and 1^st Corinthians 12).

Spiritual gifts could be defined as supernatural abilities given by God to His children for service to be good stewards of His manifold grace. They are divine enablements for ministry given by the Holy Spirit to believers to be used for the building of the body of Christ. Some believers may have more than 1 gift but I am convinced that no one has the gifts and everyone has at least 1 gift. Your spiritual gift is not necessarily the office you occupy or the title you bear. In fact, you may not even be in that office or bear that title to have the gift. The gift is a distinct ability Christ gave you through the Holy Spirit to minister His grace. Spiritual gifts are also not a measure or gauge of your growth or maturity, they are purely God’s gifts given by grace.

When these 4 passages mentioned above are considered together, we have a list that includes the following (in no particular order): prophecy, pastoring, teaching, evangelism, apostleship, helping, exhortation, giving, administration/leadership and compassion. This list provided here is by no means exhaustive.

We must realize that God did not call us to be terminals of His grace. Rather He wants us to be channels of His blessings. Many believers often conclude that they are not needed in the work of the ministry and that only “Official Ministers” have been called to this task. A careful reading of Ephesians 4:11 however shows us that this is a wrong mentality. God gave the gifts so that we would all be prepared, trained and equipped for the work of the ministry.

This week dear believer in Christ remember this: God has endowed you with His gift to serve others. You are not gift-less. Utilize His gift to be a good steward of His manifold grace.  

“Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.”

1^st Peter 4:10 Contemporary English Version