Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)

All believers are given spiritual gifts from God and they are part of what we are to do here on this earth.  Do you know what some of the spiritual gifts are?  More importantly do you know what your gifts are?  When you know what your gifts are it can help you live a more focused and intentional life of service to the Lord and his people which results in you being more fulfilled and joyful in your service.

So a great place to start in understanding spiritual gifts is 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 1 – 11.

¹Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. ²You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^{[b] 11}All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Spiritual gifts are divine abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the common good of the body of Christ.

There is not one clearly defined list of spiritual gifts in the Bible so you will often hear of different gifts and see different lists on assessments.  For years, the WELS has used a Spiritual Gift Assessment created by Pastor David J. Valleskey.  Here is a list of spiritual gifts created by Pastor Valleskey. You can take the original assessment on line here.

Administration

Serving (Arts and Crafts)

Evangelism

Encouragement

Faith

Giving

Serving (General)

Serving (Manual Arts)

Hospitality

Prayer

Knowledge

Leadership

Showing Mercy

Music (Vocal)

Shepherding

Writing

Wisdom

Music (Instrumental)

Teaching

Do you think perhaps you could pick out a few gifts that you might have?  Part 2 and 3 will look at the definitions of each of the gifts and then in Part 4 we will look at how the different gifts can be used to serve God and others.

I’d like to leave you with an excerpt from the conclusion of Pastor Valleskey’s Bible study on Spiritual Gifts.

“The Bible’s teaching about spiritual gifts fits in squarely with the Bible’s teaching about the priesthood of all believers.  Every Christian, not just the pastor, has a “ministry” to perform.  Every Christian, not just the pastor, is equipped by God for his or her “ministry” through the gifts of the Spirit.  Every part of the Body has a vital function to perform.  “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Rom. 12:6).  May each of us faithfully use our gifts “so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph. 4:12) “that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:11).

“To that help us, dear Father in heaven.  Accept us, our hearts and lives, our bodies and souls, our spiritual gifts, as thank offerings returned to you in gratitude for the greatest gift of all—Jesus.”