Spiritual Gifts
AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 • PM Psalm 119:121-144
Gen. 50:15-26 • 1 Cor. 12:1-11 • Mark 8:11-26
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit…”
Everyone has gifts; what are yours? The Spirit gives every person gifts to be exercised “for the common good.” Think of things you do easily and well? What comes to you naturally? Sometimes we tend to dismiss our gifts simply because they can seem effortless to us.
Not everyone gets every spiritual gift. The Church has the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit. Because you are grafted into the Body of Christ, you participate in all of the gifts, but you have not been given every gift personally.
That’s significant because sometimes people feel guilty because they find they do some things poorly that they think are expectations of all Christians.
Prayer and faith are both gifts of the Spirit. But for some good Christians, prayer, or faith, seems almost impossible and distracting. Yet they have other gifts, maybe gifts of service or generosity.
Exercise the gifts that are yours. Relax about the gifts you haven’t been given, and enjoy the competence of others who exercise those gifts “for the common good.”
And don’t forget also to look for the manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit outside of the church. “The Spirit blows where it chooses.” (John 3:8a) Jesus reminded the disciples that the miracle of the loves happened among the Gentiles as well as the Jews. See and honor the gifts of the Spirit present within and outside the Church. “It is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” (1 Cor. 12:6b)
Written by Lowell Grisham
...who is serving as the guest priest of Christ Memorial Episcopal Church in Kilauea on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.