John 16:7Â Â “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if IÂ do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Â Â Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
1 Corinthians 12:7Â Â But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 John 4:13Â Â By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
NASB TranslationÂ
I hate to admit it, but as I grew in Christ I was pulled in many directions by many I am sure well-meaning Christians. Some of the most confusing, was gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. I received many opinions of what people thought these fruits and gifts were, and the results of them. But like most things of the word of God, if you hang around long enough, persist long enough, and have help from the right believers it will become clear. As I sought the answer several church leaders explained the test I should take that would tell me what my gift or gifts were. Then all I had to do was take it to the Pastor and he would put me to work. There were at least a couple of problems with that. Being as I used to be more deceitful with myself than I am now, so the results were not completely trustworthy, or I did not want to believe it or do what it said. Another was when I did complete the test and the Pastor had the results, there were not jobs available with my gifting, at least I never heard back. What did I eventually learn and do? As I grew in my understanding of God, and myself as a child of His, it became clear that I could do anything He wanted and called me to do. Then He would gift me as needed. All I had to do was trust and obey, then take a risk, as some say step out in faith which is really not a risk if truly called. About 15 years ago at another church a Christian friend and mentor asked me if I would take over a Sunday school bible study. Even though it showed up in third place on my Spiritual gifts test and I thought I was not a teacher, but because God called through another brother in Christ I stepped out in faith and found out I am a good facilitator. God called, then provided what I needed to teach, and I am still going with a Saturday group at church, a group at home, and several one on one meetings.
As Paul tells us, Gods Spiritual gift is for the common good, and not for me alone, but doing what He calls me to do really gives a peace and joy I could get no other way…