On Pentecost Sunday, May 19, we launched a new message series entitled “The Spirit-Empowered Life.” The series is designed to help us with questions like, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” and “How does the Holy Spirit work?” The last two messages have focused on the “fruit of the Spirit” and on the “gifts of the Spirit.” I hope that you have found them practical and useful for daily living. Here’s a brief recap as you begin your week . . . 

On Sunday June 16th, we focused on the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23. The nine types of spiritual fruit can be understood as character traits of the Christian.  Paul lists nine different types of spiritual fruit which can be categorized as follows: 

• Inward fruit: love, joy, peace 
• Outward fruit: patience, kindness goodness 
• Upward fruit: faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  

Every one of the types of fruit of the Spirit should be part of the character of every Christian. But the gifts of the Spirit are different. Sometimes, we don’t realize this. We feel inadequate because we don’t have a certain gift, or we feel exhausted because we are trying to be superhuman. But here’s help and hope . . . 

Every believer should have the same fruit as every other believer.   

But not every believer has the same gifts as every other believer. 

Between 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Romans 12:4-8; Eph. 4:11-12; and 1 Peter 4:10-11, there are about 20 different spiritual gifts.  

Like the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit can be listed in three categories: 

• Miraculous Gifts — apostleship, speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues, healing and various miracles. 
• Enabling Gifts — faith, discernment, wisdom and knowledge. 
• Team Gifts — these are service, ministry and task-oriented activities which are functional within the body of Christ.  They are evangelism, prophecy, teaching, exhortation, shepherding, mercy, serving, giving and administration. In Exodus 30:30-35 the spiritual gift of craftsmanship is also listed. 

Spiritual gifts are . . . 

1. Special abilities for the common good.  “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12:7). 

2. Distributed by the Holy Spirit. “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Cor. 12:11).   

The Greek word translated “determines” or “decides” is boulomai and means “to will” “to intend” “to have purpose” or “to be deliberate.” The Holy Spirit is deliberate in deciding how to distribute the various gifts and to whom. Here at HRBC, we understand that God places no limitations on the use of gifts based upon gender. We believe that women and men are equally called and equipped to serve in whatever capacity or role God desires. After all, scripture says that the Holy Spirit is the one who determines this, not the pastor or a board or the denomination or other ecclesial authority.   

3. Given to believers according to God’s grace and design. “Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well” (1 Peter 4:10, CEV). 

The spiritual gifts are just that – gifts! In the Greek New Testament, the word is charismata. The root of this word is charis which means “grace.” This says it all – we receive these gifts from god as gifts – we don’t deserve them, and we certainly can’t earn them.  It is purely by the grace of God that the Spirit gives supernatural power and abilities to believers. These gifts are to build up the church. And as we exercise our spiritual gifts, we are to yield spiritual fruit! Jesus said, ^“20Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” (Matthew 7:20, NLT) 

4. Not to be used as a call to pride or for envy. “⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” (1 Corinthians 13:4) 

I hope that you will become more familiar with how God has gifted you for service within the body of Christ. Knowing your gift will help you feel a sense of purpose and calling. You will also help the body be complete, for each one of us has an important role to play. Please visit our church website to take your free spiritual gift assessment: https://hrbcrichmond.org/serve/. Just follow the instructions. Please contact me if you’d like a print version. Once you have your results, I would love to hear from you! “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Cor 12:27, NIV)  

In Christ’s care,