The Seven Spiritual Gifts in Action

You are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
—1 Corinthians 1:5

To summarize what the seven spiritual gifts look like in action, years ago Bill Gothard used this illustration. Imagine seven people around a dinner table having dinner together. The hostess walks in with a dessert tray, and she accidently spills the tray. How would the seven people representing each of the seven gifts in Romans 12:6–8 respond to a spilled desert?

The person with the gift of prophecy would say, “That’s what happens when you’re not careful.” His motivation is to convict people of their sin, what they did wrong.

The person with the gift of serving might say, “I will help you clean it up.” She has the desire to meet a practical need.

The person with the gift of teaching might say, “The reason that tray fell is it you put too many things on this side and you needed to balance the weight more carefully.” He wants to clarify truth.

The person with the gift of exhortation would say, “Next time, we can serve dessert with the meal.” She gives a practical solution to the problem so it doesn’t happen again.

The person with the gift of giving would say, “I will buy a new dessert.” He uses his personal assets to meet a practical need.

The person with the gift of mercy would respond by hugging the hostess and saying, “It’s okay. Don’t feel badly. It could happen to anyone.”

She doesn’t care about the dessert. She doesn’t care about the seven people around the table. She is empathizing with that one person who is in distress at the time.

And the person with the gift of leading would respond to the spilled dessert by saying, “Bob, would you get some towels to wipe up the table? Mary, grab the mop for the floor. And Jane, help me fix some other dessert.” That is the gift of leading.

Now, remember all of the spiritual gifts are necessary for the proper functioning of the body of Christ. And most importantly, God wants us to exhibit characteristics of each of the gifts.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Discovering and Using Your Spiritual Gift — Message 2” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Illustration used by Bill Gothard in various seminars; see http://lifeinconflict.blogspot.com/2008/12/spiritual-gifts-pt15-pinpointing-your.html.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.