I sometimes confuse Spiritual Gifts and Spiritual Fruit (Galatians 5: 22-23). I tend to look for the Fruit before I unwrap the Gifts. I want to be like Christ and I want to receive the "warm fuzzies" of seeing the results of my discipleship, but I honestly get to the point where I am just tired and unenthused because the results I am looking for do not materialize.
We cannot produce fruit until we unwrap the Gifts of the Spirit. Paul names them; the utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, faith, the gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophesy, the discernment of spirits, and the speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues.
As I look at these gifts I do not see attributes which I can claim as my own, they are all of the Holy Spirit and His working through us. It is also clear that He will work through us specifically and individually as He wills. We cannot pick and choose the gift we want because they are not for us to possess. The unwrapping of the Gifts of the Spirit is done by Him and in His timing. As we surrender ourselves to Him through prayer, study, obedience, and worship we become His living body and His Gifts to mankind. The fruits of His work will not only be evidenced in those around us but will also be a transformation of our very being.
Discover and Proclaim the Truth of The Bible which is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." (John 3:16 NRSV). Jesus came to humanity to proclaim and give evidence to that love and He has commanded us to do the same. We, who believe, must not merely be followers, but we must be proclaimers of the Gospel Message and we can only do that by being filled with the love of God.
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