Use Your Gift

Your gifts are not for you. They are to be given for the benefit of others.

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." - 1 Corinthians 12:7

This verse comes from a larger section that gives a pretty thorough teaching on spiritual gifts. In this context, the phrase "manifestation of the Spirit" is talking about how the Holy Spirit manifests through each person's specific set of gifts.

Now that we've got that cleared up, I really want to focus on that second part, "for the common good." Do not think that God gave you spiritual gifts just for you to enjoy all by yourself. Your spiritual gifts are given to you to benefit others.

Think of a fruit tree. It doesn't eat its own fruit to grow tall and strong. It gets the nutrients it needs from the sun and the soil, makes its fruit, and then you get the nutrients you need from its fruit.

Or a mother cow. She produces milk not for herself to drink, but for her calf. Her milk has the exact nutrients the calf needs to grow.

You can look all throughout creation and see examples of this, and we are no different. God made you to produce beautiful things using the spiritual gifts He gave you. But those things are not for you. They are for someone else.

For the Church to properly function as the body of Christ, we all have to use our gifts, selflessly for the benefit of the the rest of the body.

Therefore, you have a responsibility to develop your gifts. Practice them. Produce the good fruit and make sure to share it. Somebody out there desperately needs it no less than you need your leg.

I could go so much deeper with this, but I'll leave you with this for today: What are your spiritual gifts, and who are they benefitting? If they're not benefitting anyone, where can you start?

I pray you would have ears to hear as the Spirit guides you and reveals the beautiful purpose He has for you and your spiritual gifts!