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Welcome to Day 13. Today, we will address spiritual gifts. There is mention of "spiritual gifts" both in the Old Testament and New Testament, indicating that spiritual gifts are not just a New Testament phenomenon. A spiritual gift is 'a gift or endowment characteristic of the presence or enabling of the Holy Spirit.' This means God supernaturally gives and enables gifts to humans for His glory through the power of the Holy Spirit. The difference between the Old and New Testaments concerning the gifts is that the Holy Spirit now rests within the believer because of what Jesus Christ has done. This means the Spirit doesn't just come and go. Below you will see verses that show the power of the Spirit enabling His people both in the Old and New Testaments.
 
Numbers 11:25  Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Spiritual gifts or empowerment of the Spirit were given to God's people for two purposes:
 
1) To demonstrate the truthfulness of God.

We see that the truthfulness of God can come in many forms. One of the ways is through prophecy. This is demonstrated in Acts 2:14-18 when the Holy Spirit fell upon the believers at Pentecost. At this moment, Peter confronted a small group of people who were saying the apostles were "drunk" because they were speaking in everyone's languages. Peter uses Joel's prophetic words in Joel 2:28-32 to combat these individuals. The prophetic words of Joel were confirmed by Peter in Acts 2 when he used the reference to attest to something God spoke through an individual long ago.

2) To assist and empower the believer to accomplish God's will on earth.

1 Corinthians 12:7  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

The ministry (work of restoration) of God started right after sin entered the world. The Spirit's role is not limited to the creation of the world and assisting the believer, but the Spirit is the means to accomplishing the will of God. The coming of Jesus opened up a unique opportunity for God's people to have the Spirit rest upon them. Part of that uniqueness means spiritual gifts would assist the believer's daily life moving forward to accomplish God's will.

Consider Gideon’s life (Judges 6:1–8:35). God enabled and empowered him to be a warrior for His name. Gideon’s personality appeared frail and weak-minded, not suited to lead an army for the Lord. If Gideon focused on his own ability or what others thought of him, he may have never accomplished the work the Lord called him to. Yet through miraculous signs, God empowered him, increasing his faith to carry out his specific calling. This example in Scripture shows us where God adds the “super” to our “natural” for His glory. Spiritual gifts are given by God to build the church and to accomplish His will. If we pursue Him first and foremost, He will guide us correctly.

When you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives the gift(s) according to scripture, and we see this in 1 Corinthians. We see in both the Old Testament and New Testament that when the "power" of God comes upon the believer, they receive empowerment by the Spirit. The only difference between the New and Old Testament is that the Holy Spirit can now rest within the believer, since the Spirit doesn't come and go as we see within the Old Testament. We know the Spirit is the one who distributes the gifts based on 1 Corinthians 12.
 
1 Corinthians 12:11  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

I write this section as a friendly encouragement and to emphasize that, as you pursue understanding your spiritual gift(s), you should first seek God in prayer and self-examination before taking a spiritual gifts test. While I believe that such tests can be helpful, they often come with limitations. Many of these tests seem to focus more on your personality, which can be problematic because it may limit what God is trying to do within you and how He wants to use you within the body of Christ. You might feel that you "don't qualify for that specific gift," which could hinder God's work in you. I also believe that the authors of these tests have good intentions, but the tests themselves might fall short of what God wants to achieve in our lives.

It is important that we do not become prideful about gift(s) that God has given to us. Remember that the spiritual gift(s) and the assignments that God assigns to you are for His Glory, not yours. Stay humble because no matter the number of people God might enable you to reach for His name’s sake, this is all for His glory!

There are many types of spiritual gifts that God gives. Below is probably the most comprehensive list of "spiritual gifts" I have ever found, but I will be the first to tell you, there might even be more gifts than this. The reason I say that is because if we are going by what the Bible describes as "spiritual gifts,” which is a supernatural enabling of a person by the Spirit within the human for the glory of God, there may be a variety of ways God wants to move that are not listed or maybe just not identified by this list and would fall under service or helps. We see in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12–14, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4 that the core passages identify spiritual gifts.

Figure 9

ADMINISTRATION
The gift of administration is the divine strength or ability to organize multiple tasks and groups of people to accomplish these tasks.
1 Corinthians 12:28

APOSTLESHIP
The gift of apostleship is the divine strength or ability to pioneer new churches and ministries through planting, overseeing, and training.
1 Corinthians 12:28, Eph. 4:11

DISCERNMENT
The gift of discernment is the divine strength or ability to identify falsehood spiritually and to distinguish between right and wrong motives and situations.
1 Corinthians 12:10

EVANGELISM
The gift of evangelism is the divine strength or ability to help non-Christians take the necessary steps to become a born-again Christian.
Ephesians 4:11

EXHORTATION
The gift of exhortation is the divine strength or ability to encourage others through the written or spoken word and Biblical truth.
Romans 12:8

FAITH
The gift of faith is the divine strength or ability to believe in God for unseen supernatural results in every arena of life.
1 Corinthians 12:9

GIVING
The gift of giving is the divine strength or ability to produce wealth and to give by tithes and offerings for the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God on earth.
Romans 12:8

HEALING
The gift of healing is the divine strength or ability to act as an intermediary in faith, prayer, and by the laying on of hands for the healing of physical and mental illnesses.
1 Corinthians 12:9, 28

HOSPITALITY
The gift of hospitality is the divine strength or ability to create warm, welcoming environments for others in places such as your home, office, or church.
 Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:11

KNOWLEDGE
The gift of knowledge is the divine strength or ability to bring clarity and to understand situations and circumstances, often accompanied by a word from God.
1 Corinthians 12:8,

LEADERSHIP
The gift of leadership is the divine strength or ability to influence people at their level while directing and focusing them on the big picture, vision, or idea.
Romans 12:8

MERCY
The gift of mercy is the divine strength or ability to feel empathy and to care for those who are hurting in any way.
Romans 12:8,

MIRACLES
The gift of miracles is the divine strength or ability to alter the natural outcomes of life in a supernatural way through prayer, faith, and divine direction.
Romans 15:18–19, 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28

PASTOR / SHEPHERD
The gift of pastoring/shepherding is the divine strength or ability to care for the personal needs of others by nurturing and mending life issues.
Ephesians 4:11

PROPHECY
The gift of prophecy is the divine strength or ability to boldly speak and bring clarity to scriptural and doctrinal truth, in some cases foretelling God’s plan.
1 Corinthians 12:10,  Romans 12:6

SERVICE/HELPS
The gift of "serving" or "helps" is the divine strength or ability to carry out both small and great tasks for the overall good of the body of Christ. It is essential to note that, for example, the New Testament does not list worship leaders, musicianship, or craftsmanship as specific roles; however, these roles can serve as expressions of the gift of serving when exercised for the building up of the church.
Romans 12:7, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 1 Peter 4:11

TEACHING
The gift of teaching is the divine strength or ability to study and learn from the Scriptures, primarily to bring understanding and depth to other Christians.
1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11,  Romans 12:7, 1 Peter 4:11

TONGUES (and Interpretation)
The gift of tongues has multiple dimensions, but it is primarily a miracle involving languages. We first see tongues used in Acts 2, where the disciples spoke in various languages simultaneously, and everyone present understood their own language. This is a clear example of speaking in an untrained language, while others could understand what was spoken. There have been accounts of this still taking place in mission contexts. Some faith traditions interpret another expression of this gift as the ability to pray in a heavenly language to encourage one’s spirit and to commune with God, while acknowledging that Scripture does not fully define all aspects of this practice. There is also guidance given in scripture in a public setting that the gift of tongues is often accompanied by interpretation and should be used appropriately within gatherings.
1 Corinthians 12:10; 28, Acts 2:3-22, 1 Corinthians 14:4;14;27–28,

WISDOM
The gift of wisdom is the divine strength or ability to apply the truths of Scripture in a practical way, producing the fruitful outcome and character of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:8