Spiritual Gifts, Part I: Introduction

Spiritual gifts, unlike the fruit of the Spirit, are plural, and thus are divided up among those who have the Holy Spirit’s manifestation (1 Corinthians 12:7), the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them. These people are known as disciples of Christ. For example if, for the sake of explanation, let’s pretend these Spiritual gifts are represented by balls of different colors. God gives these balls to us, His children. He might have given you a red ball and a yellow ball, John has been given a green ball and an orange ball, Jill has been given a blue ball and a red ball, and i have been given a yellow ball only. The point is, some of us have the same Spiritual gifts as other disciples of Christ, and some of us have different Spiritual gifts than other disciples of Christ. Some gifts are more common than others. Some are more appealing (or “charismatic,” as the case may be). But, all are still gifts of the Holy Spirit, nonetheless. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7,
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but the same God Who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Each one of us has this manifestation of the Spirit. The Greek word used for “manifestation” is φανερωσις (phanerosis), meaning exhibition, figurative expression, or bestowment (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., ©1890). In other words, the Spirit is exhibited in each disciple. However, Paul shows this display of the Spirit is not always in the same form. In Romans 12:4-6a Paul also says,
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
Some of these gifts of the Spirit may or may not be acquired through long practice and discipline. I remember as a wrestler in college, i would work hard several hours a day, eat right, not drink, not smoke, and not party. I had a teammate who would usually come to practice but was not treating his body well. He was known for his athleticism on the mat and in the party, drinking large quantities. He also smoked marijuana. In my flesh, i was jealous of him and a little angry at God, because this same teammate went on to be 7th in the nation in his weight class in Division I, NCAA. I had a 50% record, far from 7th in the nation. It was not my fault, nor his. He had a gift. Wrestling came very natural to him. If you do not have a gift for a particular task, you may not be very good at it, whatever it is. Don’t loose heart. Perhaps God will give you that gift in the future, perhaps not. A little prayer for these gifts couldn’t hurt (See 1 Corinthians 14:13.).Paul goes on to make a list of these gifts. He lists what appear to be fourteen distinct Spiritual gifts (assuming “utterance of knowledge” (1 Corinthians) and “teaching” (Romans) are the same, as well as “prophecy,” which is listed in both passages).
“To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, Who apportions to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:8-11)“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8)
Furthermore, i don’t assume Paul intended this list of fourteen Spiritual gifts to be exhaustive. Meaning, there are more Spiritual gifts than those listed in Scripture. For instance, we could possibly say that parenting, humor, music (and other fine arts), financial stewardship, and athleticism are other Spiritual gifts. Nevertheless, since Paul thought these fourteen significant enough to include in his Letters, i hope to cover each one individually in a series over a period of time, Lord willing. Hence, why this is “Part I,” an introduction to the series.