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Seeking the Perspective of Jesus

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (ESV)

“Are you frustrating your spiritual gifts?” was the question I asked a gifted Christian teacher and leader several years ago. Rather taken back, he asked what I meant. I replied, “You have all the knowledge and all the skills to lead, but no one is listening and no one is following, and you seem angry about it.” I had only a few minutes before he would walk out on me, so I quickly added, “You know spiritual gifts have to be enabled or they will not accomplish the supernatural things they can do. If you are like most Christians, you haven’t enabled your gifts, and they are frustrated along with yourself.” Thankfully, he continued to listen and eventually joined the discipleship group to which he was being invited. Almost a year later, he told his group at their commencement that those were tough words that I spoke to him, and that they initially offended him. However, they were right words, and he now sees the truth that he had been frustrating his gifts. This “gift frustration” happens a lot and it could be happening to you. If so, this devotional might open your eyes to some important information, and it can explain some current frustration in your life. So, allow me to share with you some truth about spiritual gifts, for if yours are frustrated, they are not only prevented from making the great contribution to God’s kingdom that He has re-created you for, but you are also missing the deepest sense of fulfillment that you could ever have. Let’s start with some thoughts about the gifts:

I understand that there are a multitude of opinions about spiritual gifts. Therefore, if you haven’t formed a conclusion, I would invite you to read some books on the different views, after you have read for yourself what scripture says. Search for the truth that God wants to reveal to you, for the subject is not meant to be confusing, only mysterious. Unfortunately, a lot of different opinions make things confusing. For instance, some theologians say that not all gifts are still active, but rather ceased after Pentecost. Others say that the gifts are all active and that there are even more gifts given to the Body of Christ than are mentioned in the Bible. I have come to my own opinion about the gifts. I have concluded that the gifts are real and all are still active, but there is also a mystery concerning the gifts, and mysteries are hard to explain and understand. For example, there are over 20 spiritual gifts mentioned or implied in the New Testament. Some theologians would group several gifts into one and reduce the number. This simplifies it, but may oversimplify it to make it understandable by finite minds. We need to be careful about using this way to understand things in the Bible, for we can get away from the truth when we think truth is found only in what we understand. Because we want to understand it, explain it and by intellectual consent, approve of it, we inadvertently steer away from the truth that we seek because we are not willing to accept a mystery as truth, as well. So, I would encourage you, in your pursuit of understanding, to be willing to believe the mystery, even though you don’t completely understand it. Who knows? God might reveal to you the mystery in His time. Even if He does not, believing a mystery still believes the truth when it comes to spiritual gifts.

Then there are the “Sign Gifts.” These gifts are often debated by each side as either “No longer” to “Essential” to “Incorrectly Expressed.” Since the Sign Gifts are the most mysterious of the gifts, they are also the most counterfeited by our enemy. Yes, there are counterfeit gifts, and they work their woe in the Church and become a source of division. Because of this concern, there have been many divisions within the Body of Christ created because of unhealthy responses by believers. I can understand the concern about a counterfeit gift let loose in a church or other Christian gathering. This is a bad thing, and we need to protect our churches and gatherings from it. But the mystery to me is how Christians would split in their fellowship with one another because of disagreement over a mystery. One group says they have the mystery figured out, and the other group says they have it figured out. However, the way they deal with one another tells me that neither of them has it figured out. God is not in anything that divides His children or maintains spiritual pride. This is clear. God wants unity in the body of Christ, and we break His heart when we forget this. We see divisions because each side thinks they have the mystery solved. What seems obvious to me is that the people who champion one opinion over the other and create divisions display a lot of ungodly behavior by the way they handle themselves. They display frustration and anger with another point of view, even though it is a mystery. So what causes this? Maybe the dissensions are not because they are fighting for correct theology, but rather, they are bringing their frustrated gifts into the fray. I think the truth is that these divisions have occurred because the gifts these people fight over are frustrated in their own lives. They are frustrated because in all their pursuit of understanding about the gifts, they have overlooked the key principle for making those gifts come alive and express as they are designed to do. Therefore, I want to share with you God’s “trigger” for enabling those gifts in unity with others and causing them to produce a fruit that will last. Hopefully, this will eliminate some spiritual frustrations of your own.

It was almost 30 years ago that I read Peter Waggoner’s book, Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow. Prior to that book’s release, there wasn’t a lot of literature written on the gifts, and therefore, this was new and exciting information for many of us. A gifts questionnaire was made available that tracked the definitions of the gifts listed in the book. For those of us who taught from the book and used the evaluation, we saw many lethargic Christians come alive to the purpose for which God had designed them. I remember clearly Dr. Wagner’s statement on a tape, “If you want to know God’s purpose for you, discover your spiritual gifts and use them.” This was intriguing to me, for as Rick Warren proved with the number of people who have bought his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Christians want to know their purpose in God’s plan for their life. Since Dr. Wagner’s book introduction 30 years ago, I have watched churches across the nation employ the gifts evaluation and create organizational plans to place their members in positions within the church based on their spiritual gifts. They thought they had it figured out, for they would place people in positions where they were gifted and supernatural results would occur. Right? After all, doesn’t it make sense that gifted people working in the area of their spiritual strength would produce a supernatural result? You would think so? But, it wasn’t that simple, for along the way no one ever taught that the spiritual gifts have to be enabled in order for them to produce supernatural results. Therefore, although these churches were on the right track, their members still had frustrated gifts and were no better off than before.

How are spiritual gifts enabled? In reading the passage listed above we see clearly that “love” is the great enabler in order for spiritual gifts to work as they are designed. Paul used some examples of gifts that would be frustrated if love was not in gear before the gift was exercised. He referenced the gifts of Tongues, Prophesy, Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Voluntary Poverty and Martyr. But I believe that these were only examples and that all spiritual gifts are frustrated without love. So you are thinking, “Love’s the answer! All I need to do is give a little love and those gifts will come alive?” Not so simple. For the type of love being mentioned here is also supernatural, and there is something that must enable this type of love in our life.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

The type of love being referenced and described above is “Perfect Love.” This is a love that only God can produce in us. It cannot originate by us, and we cannot artificially produce it, for at best, our human love is still imperfect and it will fail us and those we love. The kind of love that Paul is describing is listed as the first characteristic of the Holy Spirit." But the fruit of the Spirit is love...” Therefore, we must understand that spiritual gifts are enabled when the Holy Spirit loves through us, requiring that our flesh characteristics be subordinate to His Spirit characteristics.

So how does this all fit together? You’ve heard it over and over again from this ministry, for it is our central theme. The key that Jesus has given us to unlock the mystery of enabling our spiritual gifts is a perfect love that only He can produce, as stated from Jesus’ own mouth. He said:

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

So let’s take the mystery out it: As much as we have studied and learned about spiritual gifts, there is still much that we do not know. They are still a mystery and should be understood as such. But:

There is no mystery about a gift that has not been enabled, for it just doesn’t work properly, and it becomes evident that it is frustrated.

There is no mystery as to why we in the Body of Christ fight with each other and become divided over a difference of opinion about theology. This happens because God’s love is not dominating our flesh nature as it should, and we sure don’t have our theology fully figured out as a result.

There is no mystery as to why God’s nature is not dominating our flesh nature, and we cannot give perfect love. It is because we are not abiding in Him - plain and simple.

The key that unlocks the mystery of enabling our spiritual gifts is found in having an intimate, abiding relationship with Christ. When we abide in Jesus and His word abides in us, His perfect love is expressed through our life. When His love is expressed through us, our spiritual gifts are enabled, and they are no longer frustrated. When our gifts are fully functional, we are able to fulfill our purpose as we play our part in the Great Commission. When we discover God’s purpose for our life and follow Him in expressing our spiritual gifts in the right way, we also realize the greatest personal significance we could ever know. Now, isn’t that the deal of the century for our life, simply because we responded to Jesus’ invitation to come and abide with Him? What a deal!