Your Spiritual Gift

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly.
—Romans 12:6

Are you excited about being an American? When you wake up in the morning, do you jump out of bed and say, “Thank God I’m an American”? Those of us who are Americans, we usually don’t do that. You know why we don’t? Because although we are grateful for our country, there are three hundred million people who have exactly the same relationship with our nation as we do. You know, I think that is similar to why some people don’t get excited about being a Christian. There are tens of millions of people around the world who have the same relationship with God as we do. So what is special about being a Christian?

I believe, after salvation, the most important truth a Christian can understand is: God has imparted to each of us a unique spiritual gift to use in the body of Christ.

Many Christians do nothing more than sit in the pew on Sunday. They are uninvolved in God’s kingdom work. But God wants us to get off the pew and get involved in the ministry He has for us. To do that, we need to understand some important facts about spiritual gifts.

One fact is that every Christian has a spiritual gift. Now, each of us was born with certain natural abilities. Some have the gift of making music. Some have the gift of working with their hands. People have natural abilities that are the result of their physical birth. But when you were born again into the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit brought into your life a unique spiritual gift.

At the moment of your salvation, the Holy Spirit indwelled you and gave you a spiritual gift.

In Romans 12:4–8, Paul writes, “ For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Every person reading this who is a Christian has one of these seven spiritual gifts.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Discovering and Using Your Spiritual Gift — Message 1” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.
Note: Content in this series is drawn from Don Crossland, who shared it with Bill Gothard, who later adapted it in the Institute in Basic Life Principles, iblp.org.
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.