Spiritual Gifts

Yes, lately I've been obsessed by this topic. It has consumed alot of my thinking and speaking time. But, it has changed my life. I used to think that "spiritual gifts" was speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, healing, etc. It wasn't until my life-changing mission trip to California that I realised there was much more to the list (see below). Now that I have a better idea of what gifts I have to serve God and the church I can focuse energy and time on strengthening and using these gifts.

Spiritual Gifts:
·Administration: The ability to organize and guide human activities in such a way that Christ's program is carried out (1 Cor 12:28).
·Creativity: The ability to forward God's Kingdom through creative skills such as music, drama, graphic arts, writing skills, painting, sculpting (Exodus 35:31).
·Discernment: The ability to distinguish between truth and error, to know when a person or act is of God (1 Cor 12:10).
·Encouragement: The ability to motivate people through encouraging words to live practical Christian lives (Romans 12:8).
·Evangelism: The ability to present the Gospel to unbelievers in a clear and meaningful way which calls for response (Ephesians 4:11).
·Faith: The ability to envision what God wants to happen and to be certain He is going to do it in response to prayer, even when there is no concrete evidence (1 Cor 12:10).
·Giving: The ability to support the Lord's work materially with generous, timely, and cheerful contributions (Romans 12:8).
·Hospitality: The ability to welcome and graciously serve guests and strangers (Romans 12:13).
·Intercession: The ability to pray faithfully for others and to identify specific answers to those prayers (Colossians 1:9, 10).
·Leadership: The ability to lead members of a group with caring concern and foresight (Romans 12:8).
·Mercy: The ability to empathize with hurting people and to translate that into cheerful acts of service (Romans 12:8).
·Prophecy: The ability to proclaim and apply God's truth so that believers may be edified, encouraged, and consoled, and non-believers convinced (1 Cor 12:10, 28).
·Service: The ability to help others in their ministries by aiding them in practical ways.
·Shepherding: The ability to oversee the spiritual lives of others and care for their spiritual needs by teaching and guiding them toward maturity (Ephesians 4:11).
·Teaching: The ability to communicate knowledge to others for the purpose of upbuilding (Ephesians 4:11).
·Knowledge: The ability to receive from God knowledge.
·Wisdom: The ability to see from God brings perspective.
·Healing: The ability to be the one through whom God brings healing.
·Miracles: The person through whom God performs extraordinary.
·Tongues: The Holy Spirit takes control of the tongue to bring forth utterances previously unknown to the speaker.
·Interpretation of Tongues: The ability to interpret Spirit-filled utterances into a known language.
*Note: definitions are taken from Christian Reformed Home Missions and Christian Reformed Publications.