Greg J Daley

I love Christmas time and for lots of reasons.  I love the story of the first Christmas and its message for all mankind.  I love the Christmas lights and displays, the family gatherings, the Church productions.  I even like living in the Northwest where, occasionally, we have a white Christmas like the Christmas of 08. Oh, did I mention the food?  You see there is so much to love about Christmas.   Then there are all those presents!  The giving and the receiving of gifts.  Who doesn’t like gifts? The Bible says –

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17

Christmas gifts are portions of people’s grace: a personal display of their character in giving.  Spiritual gifts are portions of God’s grace. They display the personal, powerful presence of the Holy Spirit and are given to every believer for the common good, or for the profit, of all.   The Holy Spirit will give us whatever is needed to minister to distinct circumstances.  He distributes them freely and readily, in the moment of need, in order to enable the believer’s ministry in Jesus’ name.  Spiritual gifts are not badges of honor or signs of spiritual maturity.  Even at Christmas time, the character of those receiving the gift may not always be exemplary.  They might not even say thank you.  When we give someone a gift, we are not thinking “do they deserve this?”  Most of the time, we are looking to bless them or looking to meet a need.   Just like at Christmas time, spiritual gifts are not “earned.”  Our attitude concerning the gifts is to be willing, available, good-hearted friends of Jesus. We are to be compassionate friends of those in need. 

Christmas, Birthdays, Valentines Day, Anniversaries, and most Holidays that we celebrate, have built within them the receiving of a gift or a card.  Someone takes the time to give us something and to express their love.  The Father expresses His love towards us through the gifts of the Spirit. 

1 Cor. 12:4 says there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit.  The word diversity means allotments or various kinds.  The word gift here is the Greek word khar-is-mah.  The English word charisma comes from this word. Chara, which means Joy, cheerfulness, delight.  Charis is grace, goodwill, undeserved favor. 

A gift from God is a Charisma or a gift of grace, a divine gratuity, spiritual endowment, miraculous faculty. 

The nine gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 are supernatural gifts or gifts of grace. 

We are told to desire spiritual gifts.  That word desire is a strong word that can be translated as to lust after.

We are told to earnestly desire the best gifts and, since we are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.   So here you have desire and motive. That is why love is such an important part in our pursuit of gifts.  We need to give and receive with the right motives. 

The Bible says, in Ephesians 4:11, that when Jesus ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. These gifts are expressed through the leadership gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelist, and pastors and teachers:  “For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” 

These gifts, like the nine gifts mention in I Cor. 12, are given so that the body can be built up by the mutual efforts of all the members supplying their contribution to the whole.  They are grace gifts to be received with Joy and Goodwill.  They come down from the Father of Lights.  What a good God we serve!  In the upcoming series we will explore these gifts more.