This may have occurred to you already, but I am going to say this anyway, Jesus had all of the gifts and except for tongues and the interpretation of tongues, we see Him using all of the gifts. I would imagine that when He went off alone to pray, He might have used that gift too. I don’t know for sure.

The point I am making is that you do not have all of the gifts. Notice what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:28-30.

“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?”

The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts to everyone as He sees fit to help the specific local church reach maturity. The mature local church fits into the overall church of God across the planet. Together, we are all growing up into Jesus.

Jesus had no weaknesses when He was on earth – He did not grow spiritually. He grew physically, but not spiritually. There was absolutely no weakness in the expression of love toward others. Jesus was the perfect representation of the Father.

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

If there was a weakness or imperfection, Jesus couldn’t be the exact imprint of the Father in heaven. There are no weaknesses or imperfections in the Father. Therefore, when Jesus expressed the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, He did so perfectly.

Guess what… you don’t.

We are not perfect, and we cannot and do not use the gifts perfectly, no matter how awesome we feel with the way our gift lands in the lives of people. We are not the exact imprint of the Father on earth. Jesus is, that is why we point to Him.

Therefore, it should be understood, that with our gifts comes inherent weaknesses. Because of our flesh, there are possibilities that exist that can make the gifts in us distasteful to God and others.

Should we then deny the gifts so that we don’t run the risk of improperly using them? No! Let me remind you that the Apostle Paul told us to pursue the gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…”

It is wise to become familiar with your weaknesses, especially those that are associated with each of the gifts. For instance, mercy is a spiritual gift that greatly adds compassion to the church. Even with this gift which focuses on the hearts of others we can operate in our flesh and mess it all up.

Here is what the weakness in you associated with the gift of mercy may look like. The person with the gift of mercy can become consumed in the life of others to the degree that they lose self-control in their own life. They can carry other people’s issues to the degree that they become unproductive in other areas of their own life. Those who minister with this gift must make sure that their own house is in order, so that there is maximum benefit to those they care for.

Even with Timothy, Paul challenged him to be aware of the weakness of fear. Listen to his wise words.

2 Timothy 1:6-7 “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

As a good mentor, Paul is warning Timothy about the weakness he sees regarding the use of his gift. He mentions fear and counters the fear with power, love and self-control. The ever-growing fruit of the Holy Spirit in our life, will counter our weaknesses in our spiritual gifts.

Learn what your weakness is. This is precisely why it is important that you do not go rogue on the church. Do you honestly believe that you have no blind spots? You have them. It is good to have those whom you trust that can speak to them.

Being in a small group and using your gift there, is the absolute best way to get encouragement and affirmation; and also, correction and at times, rebuke. We all need rebuke in our lives. Do you honestly believe that your life requires no correction? Jesus was perfect…you…not so much.

Being in a safe environment where you can risk and try is super important. Being humble and open to encouragement is so helpful in your development.

I am afraid that some choose not to use their gifts in smaller settings first. They become deceived because they have not been submitted to others they trust to speak into their development. They see the whole church as their platform and become angry when they are not accepted.

To receive healthy encouragement from others (Listen carefully to this next phrase) you must first be a HEALTHY encourager to others first. You have to put yourself in a place where you can be friendly and humble – serving first, loving first.

To traipse on in and believe that you are a powerful force of God – give me a break. You very well might have a great and powerful anointing. Do you know what goes well with that great and powerful anointing? Great and powerful character. That would be humility and gentleness.

Speak about your own weakness before you point out the weakness in others. Jesus has something to say about not recognizing our weaknesses, believing that we are flawless in our gifting.

Matthew 7:5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

If you can put some thought to the tremendous gift you have been given by God, I believe He will reveal the inherent weakness that comes along with your gift. You can ask those that you trust what their thoughts are and get some good feedback. I highly recommend you do that.

Father, again we are grateful for how through Jesus You have given to us gifts to use to love others. Help us to be wise and understanding as we continue to grow spiritually. Please keep us from becoming prideful in our gifts. Please let us walk in the same humility we see in Jesus.

Blessings,

Pastor D