Some work in a home belongs to everyone. Anyone can carry a chair. Anyone can set a table, wipe a counter, hold a door. But every now and then, someone opens the oven and does what the rest of us simply can’t.
Same house. Same table. Two kinds of gifts.
Peter says it plainly. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10). Varied grace. Each of us has received a gift, and we steward it to serve one another.
But if every believer has a gift, what kind of gift is it? And how does it come to us? Because they do not all come the same way.
Some gifts the Spirit asks of every one of us. We grow into them. Other gifts he hands to a few. We can reach for them, we can desire them, but he gives as he chooses.
Two kinds of gift. Functional gifts, the ones we are called to grow. And appointed gifts, the ones we are conferred to go.
Functional Gifts: Called to Grow
Watch how Paul begins. Not with a gift. With humility. “Think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (v3). Before he names a single gift, he tells us how to hold them. Honestly. Soberly. About ourselves.
Then he names them. And he calls them a “function” (v4). The grace given to each of us, in different measure, and the command that follows: use them (v6).
Here is the thing. None of these gifts wait on a special aptitude. You do not need a gift of mercy to show mercy. You grow it. On purpose. Over time. You do not wait for a gift of love to show affection, or a gift of encouragement to encourage, or a gift of generosity to give. You develop these the way we develop anything, trained by constant practice (Hebrews 5:14).
Even Jesus grew. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
And notice something. Paul does not sort the list for us. Prophecy sits right next to mercy. He calls generosity a gift in verse 8, then tells everyone to give in verse 13. So which is it? Both. Paul lists. We discern. The Spirit is growing these in every one of us.
These are the functional gifts. The floor we all stand on. The ones we develop to put to use.
Discussion
- Paul opens not with a gift but with “sober judgment” about ourselves (v3). Why might humility be the right place to begin any honest conversation about gifts?
- Paul calls generosity a gift in verse 8, then tells everyone to give in verse 13. What changes when you see the same act as both a gift some carry and a duty asked of all?
Key Takeaways
- You grow into these gifts. You do not wait for them. Service, encouragement, mercy, generosity. You develop them by practice until they become second nature. None of them wait on a special aptitude.
- Start with sober judgment. Paul begins with humility, not talent. Know the measure God assigned you, and use it.
Appointed Gifts: Conferred to Go
Read 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (ESV)
Now the other kind. “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (v27). Then verse 28. “God has appointed in the church.” Appointed. Placed. Set there by God, as he chose. Not earned. Not climbed into.
Then Paul asks a run of questions he already knows the answer to. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Do all work miracles? Do all heal? No. And that is the point. A hand is not an ear. God spreads the gifts out so we need each other.
Some of these you can see in a church. Teaching. Leadership. Administration. Not everyone can teach, and Scripture says not many should try. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). James said not many. He did not say only one.
And here is the pattern that keeps all of this honest. Take prophecy. Are all prophets? No (12:29). But Paul says you can all prophesy (14:31). How? Because underneath it, prophecy is simply a word from the Spirit that builds someone up. Encouragement. Consolation. That word again from Part 1. Oikodomē. So the office, God appoints to some. But the act, building a brother or sister up, God asks of all.
The appointed gifts take a God-given aptitude, one the church can see and confirm. Some gifts are rarer still. Tongues. Healing. Miracles. Paul names them, but faithful people who love Scripture read those passages differently, and they are a study of their own. That is for another day.
What Paul charges is this. “Earnestly desire the higher gifts” (v31). You cannot manufacture these. You cannot practice your way in. You desire them, and God gives as he chooses. So whatever God has placed in the person beside you, the posture is the same. Recognize it. Receive it. Do not envy it. And do not fake it.
Discussion
- Paul says the church “appoints” what God has already given (v28). How do you tell the difference between a gift God has placed in someone and a role someone has simply taken for themselves?
- Paul tells the whole church to “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (v31), yet God gives them as he chooses. How do you hold both at once, desiring a gift and refusing to envy the one who carries it?
Key Takeaways
- God appoints. We do not self-appoint. Teaching, leadership, administration. These are placed by his choosing and confirmed by the church, not earned by effort.
- Desire, then receive. You cannot practice your way into an appointed gift. Earnestly desire it, then honor the gift God distributes as he will. Never envy. Never fake it.
Something to Sit With
Two kinds of gifts. Functional gifts, called to grow. The floor we all stand on. Serve, give, encourage, show mercy, welcome, pray. Every one of us, no exceptions. And appointed gifts, conferred to go. Placed selectively for the sake of us all, seen and confirmed by the church.
Every one of us has gifts to grow. And the body needs your gift to send it out. To grow, and to go.
But one thing holds both kinds together. Turn one page, to chapter 13. Speak in the tongues of angels without love, and you are a noisy gong. Show the smallest mercy in love, and it is never wasted. Love never ends. The gift was never the point. Love is. Jesus held every gift there is, and he poured them all out in love.
A few questions to carry into the week.
Is there a gift I am called to grow that is hidden within me?
Am I waiting to be handed a gift, instead of using the ones I already carry?
Whose gift, right beside me, can I recognize and thank God for this week?
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10, ESV)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I figure out what my spiritual gift is?
Start by serving, not by testing. For the gifts you are called to grow, you do not need to discover anything first. Show mercy, encourage, give, welcome, and the gift grows in the doing. For the gifts God appoints, you rarely name them in yourself. The church sees them, names them, and confirms them. So serve where you are, pay attention to where God works through you, and let the body tell you what it sees.
Can I grow my spiritual gifts, or are they just given to me?
Both, depending on the gift. The functional gifts are called to grow. You develop them by practice, the way you grow any skill, until they become second nature. You do not wait to feel gifted before you serve. The appointed gifts are different. You cannot manufacture them or practice your way in. God confers them as he chooses, and the church confirms them. So grow the ones you are called to grow, and desire the ones only God can give.
Does every Christian have a spiritual gift, even if I don’t feel like I do?
Yes. Peter says each one has received a gift to steward (1 Peter 4:10). If you do not feel gifted, start anyway. You do not need a gift of mercy to show mercy, or a gift of encouragement to encourage. Serve, and the gift grows in your hands. Feeling ungifted is not the same as being ungifted.
Why are the gift lists in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 different?
Because they lean toward two different kinds of gift. Romans 12 leans toward the functional gifts, the ones every believer is called to grow: service, mercy, generosity, encouragement. First Corinthians 12 leans toward the appointed gifts, the ones God distributes to some and the church confirms: apostles, prophets, teachers, and others. Paul does not give one tidy list because he is not making one point. He is showing us gifts we develop and gifts we receive.
What does “earnestly desire the higher gifts” mean if I cannot just choose my gift?
Paul tells the whole church to earnestly desire the higher gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31), even though God alone gives them. So the desire is real, but it is not a demand. You can long for a gift, and ask for it, and still leave the giving to God. And notice where Paul goes next. Straight into 1 Corinthians 13. Desire the gifts, but pursue love above them all. The wanting is always governed by love.
Is love a spiritual gift?
No. Love is greater than the gifts, and it governs them all. Paul says you can speak in the tongues of angels, or carry every gift there is, and without love it is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Love is not one gift among many. It is the more excellent way that makes every gift worth anything. Grow your gifts, desire the higher ones, but pursue love first.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway.