E88 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Discovering Your Spiritual Gift - Part 2 of 7 - Service
Hope’s Harbor
Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #88
Title: What is Your Spiritual Gift? Part 2 of 7 – The Gift of Service
Date: January 9, 2023
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verse: Romans 12:6 – ‘Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…’
Intro: If we believe the purpose of spiritual gifts is to help each other in ways that are approved of by GOD, it should go without saying we must use our gifts. Not hold knowledge of them and then do nothing.
Listen to this warning and exhortation from Jesus in Matthew 25:15-30 on the matter of not using the gifts of the Kingdom GOD intends for us to use if we are to serve Him. I’ll paraphrase the passage:
The master in the parable represents GOD. He entrusted 3 different amounts of money to 3 different servants and then left the country. It is implied the man expected these servants to use the amounts wisely. The fact the master gave each servant an amount according to each man’s ability reveals wisdom and mercy. The servants received according to what they could do.
When the master returned (and this symbolizes Jesus’s return), he called each servant to account for his service. The first servant doubled his master’s amount. The second servant did the same. However, the third servant did nothing. He concealed what was entrusted to him.
]These are Jesus’s words when ending this story in Matthew 25:30 – “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
I pray we heed this warning and use our gifts as GOD intends.
Today’s Devotion focus: Using your Spiritual gift, or gifts -
Here is a list of common spiritual gifts:
· Prophecy
· Service
· Teaching
· Exhortation
· Giving
· Organization
· Mercy
In this episode, we are looking at the gift of Service.
These are a few characteristics of someone with this gift:
Characteristics of the Gift of Service
• Sees and meets practical needs
• Disregards weariness
• Has difficulty saying “no”
• Is alert to likes and dislikes
• Has a strong desire to be with others
• Needs approval
• Likes short-range projects
• Meets needs quickly
Some of the challenges that may be associated with the gift of service are:
• Quickness in meeting needs may appear pushy
• Disregard for personal needs may extend to one’s own family and their needs
• Eagerness in serving may prompt suspicion of self-advancement
• May react negatively to others who do not meet obvious needs
• Insistence on serving may appear to be rejection of being served
• Desire to for sincere appreciation may result in being easily hurt
• Quickness in meeting needs may interfere with spiritual lessons God is teaching those with the needs
• Meeting practical needs may be judged as a lack of interest in spiritual matters
Those with the gift of service are normally the ones ‘getting it done’ at church. They are often referred to as the ‘10% who are doing 80% of the work.’ There are one or two reasons this may actually be the case. People with the gift of service have the heart of a servant. They want to help and do for others. It is common for them to jump in and start working before others have a chance to volunteer.
Where this becomes a problem for them is they will jump in without considering the effect on their time management, their families, and at times their health and welfare. You know, like should they be climbing a 30-foot ladder?
Also, when they volunteer so quickly others may feel shut out. A servant-minded person may come to resent others for not stepping up when all that happened was those other people may have been checking their schedules to see if they could find time for the task.
On the other hand, there are those who hold back and let others do all the work. And so it falls to the servant-hearted people to do what it takes to help a ministry function.
Let’s take it one step further… what about the need for overseas short-term missions work? Have we been called and gifted to go, but here we sit? Now, this isn’t intended to put guilt on anyone. Serving out of guilt is not what GOD wants from us. When we give of ourselves, in whatever capacity, He wants a cheerful heart involved. Remember, serving GOD’s Kingdom involves rewards for those who serve faithfully, in the capacity GOD gives.
Going back to Matthew 25:15 which was paraphrased earlier – the Bible says “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability…”
GOD doesn’t send us out to fail and He rarely calls the equipped, but rather equips the called. You’ve likely heard that before, but it is true nonetheless. Philippians 4:13 instructs us: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ The context is we can do all things we are gifted for.
Summary: GOD gave us gifts in order to equip us to serve others, and through service, further His Kingdom here on this earth. We have one life to give to GOD as our gift to Him. Time is short. Do you want to wait to see what happens? Or go and serve GOD regardless of your gift so that when you stand before Him to give an account of yourself, you’ll have few if any regrets?
Action to consider: Study the following verses during the coming week. If you only read them several times and ask GOD to impart their power to you I am confident GOD will use the truth of them to help prevent you from standing before Him empty handed.
Romans 14:10 – ‘But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.’
2 Corinthians 5:10 – ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.’
Next week’s devotion: The Spiritual Gift of Teaching
Appendix:
https://www.fba.org/discipleship/guide-to-spiritual-gifts
· Prophecy
· Service
· Teaching
· Exhortation
· Giving
· Organization
· Mercy
Prophecy:
Characteristics of the Gift of Prophecy
• Need to express themselves
• Quick impressions of people
• Alertness to dishonesty
• Desire for justice
• Openness about their own faults
• Wholehearted involvement
• Loyalty to truth vs. people
• Willingness to suffer for right
• Persuasiveness in defining truth
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Prophecy
• The individual’s sense of right and wrong may be judged as intolerance
• The strong desire to proclaim truth may be interpreted as disinterest in listening to another’s point of view
• Frankness may be viewed as harshness
• Interest in groups may be interpreted as disinterest in individuals
• Efforts to gain results may be seen as using gimmicks
• Emphasis on decision may appear as neglecting spiritual growth
• Public boldness and strict standards may hinder intimate personal relationships
The Gift of Prophecy in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Truthfulness Deception
Obedience Willfulness
Sincerity Hypocrisy
Virtue Impurity
Boldness Fearfulness
Forgiveness Rejection
Perseverance Contentiousness
Service:
Characteristics of the Gift of Service
• Sees and meets practical needs
• Frees others to achieve
• Disregards weariness
• Has difficulty in saying “no”
• Is alert to likes and dislikes
• Has a strong desire to be with others
• Needs approval
• Likes short-range projects
• Puts extra punch to jobs
• Meets needs quickly
• Tends to feel inadequate and unqualified
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Service
• Quickness in meeting needs may appear pushy
• Avoidance of red tape may result in excluding others from jobs
• Disregard for personal needs may extend to one’s own family needs
• Eagerness in serving may prompt suspicion of self-advancement
• May react to others who do not detect and meet obvious needs
• Insistence on serving may appear to be rejection of being served
• Desire to sense sincere appreciation may result in being easily hurt
• Quickness in meeting needs may interfere with spiritual lessons God is teaching those with the needs
• Meeting practical needs may be judged as a lack of interest in spiritual matters
• Enjoyment of short-range goals may result in leadership positions and frustration or disorganization with long-range objectives
• Inability to avoid others’ needs may result in sidetracking employer’s directions
The Gift of Service in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Alertness Unconscious
Hospitality Loneliness
Generosity Stingy
Joyfulness Self-pity
Flexibility Resistance
Availability Self-centered
Endurance Giving up
Teaching:
Characteristics of the Gift of Teaching
• Presents truth systematically
• Requires thoroughness
• Needs to validate information
• Checks out the teacher
• Has great delight in researching
• Relies on established resources
• Is uneasy with subjective truth
• Clarifies misunderstandings
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Teaching
• Appears to neglect practical application
• Knowledge may appear as pride
• Appears critical
• Appears boring with unnecessary details
• Appears dependent on research
• Appears to despise wisdom of uneducated teachers
• Appears to lack warmth
The Gift of Teaching in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Self-control Self-indulgence
Reverence Disrespect
Diligence Laziness, slothfulness
Thorough Incomplete
Dependable Inconsistent
Security Anxiety
Patience Restless, push work aside
Exhortation
Characteristics of the Gift of Exhortation
• Is committed to spiritual growth
• Is able to see root problems
• Prescribes steps of action
• Raises hope for solutions
• Turns problems into benefits
• Desires to be transparent
• Gains insight through experience
• Urges action on clear steps
• Desires to share face to face
• Desires to bring harmony between diverse groups
• Tends to avoid systems of information that lack practical application
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Exhortation
• An emphasis on steps of action may appear to be an oversimplification of the problem
• The urgency in giving steps of action may appear as having overconfidence in them
• May appear to be un-evangelistic because of an emphasis on the importance of spiritual growth and being a living example
• The desire to win non-Christians through living example may appear as a lack of interest in personal evangelism
• The use of Scripture for practical applications may appear to take it out of context
• The emphasis on steps of action may appear to disregard the feelings of those being counseled
The Gift of Exhortation in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Wisdom Natural inclinations
Discernment Judgment
Faith Presumption
Discretion Simple mindedness
Love Selfishness
Creativity Underachievement
Enthusiasm Apathy
Giving
Characteristics of the Gift of Giving
• Is able to see resources
• Desires to feel a part of the work
• Desires to give high quality
• Hopes the gift is an answer to prayer
• Desires to give secretly
• Prefers to give without pressure of appeal
• Is concerned that giving will corrupt
• Exercises personal thriftiness
• Gives to motivate others to give
• Confirms amount with counsel
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Giving
• The need to deal with large sums of money may appear to be a focus on temporal things
• The desire to increase the effectiveness of a ministry by a gift may appear to be an attempt to control the work or person
• The attempt to encourage others to give may appear to be putting pressure on people who have less to give
• The lack of response to pressure appeals may appear as a lack of generosity
• The personal frugality by which the individual lives may appear to friends and relatives as selfishness in not meeting their wants
The Gift of Giving in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Thrifty Extravagant
Resourceful Wasteful
Contented Covetous
Punctual Tardiness
Tolerant Prejudice
Cautious Rashness Giving – Unthankfulness
Organization
Characteristics of the Gift of Organization
• The ability to see the big picture and visualize the final results of a major undertaking
• The ability to break down the major goals into smaller, achievable tasks
• The motivation to organize that for which he or she is responsible
• The ability to know what resources are available and needed to reach a goal
• The ability to know what can and what cannot be delegated
• A tendency to remove him or herself from detracting details in order to focus
on the ultimate goals
• A willingness to endure reaction
• A need for loyalty and confidence from those who are being directed and served
• A tendency to assume responsibility if no structured leadership exists
• A desire to complete the task as soon as possible
• A joy and fulfillment in seeing all the parts come together and others enjoying the finished product
• A desire to move on to a new challenge when the previous task is fully completed
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Organization
• The ability to delegate responsibility may appear as laziness in avoiding work
• The willingness to endure reaction may appear to be callous
• The neglect in explaining why tasks must be done may prompt workers to feel like they are being misused
• The viewing of people as resources may appear that projects are more important than people
• The desire to complete the task swiftly may appear to be insensitivity to the schedule, weariness or priorities of others
• Singling out people the individual thinks is specially important to his goals may appear to be showing favoritism
The Gift of Organization in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Orderly Disorganization
Initiative Apathetic
Responsibility Unreliable
Humility Dictatorial
Decisiveness Double-mindedness
Determination Faintheartedness
Loyalty Unfaithful
Mercy
Characteristics of the Gift of Mercy
• The ability to feel an atmosphere of joy or distress in an individual or group
• A tendency to be attracted to and understand people who are having mental or emotional distress
• A desire to remove hurts and bring healing to others rather than to
look for the benefits of the hurts
• A greater concern for the mental distress than the physical distress of others
• A sensitivity to words and actions that will hurt others
• A tendency to react harshly when intimate friends are rejected
• An ability to sense genuine love and a greater vulnerability to deeper and more frequent hurts from the lack of love
• A need for deep friendships in which there is a mutual commitment
• A need to measure acceptance by physical closeness and quality time together
• An enjoyment and unity with those who are sensitive to the needs and feelings of others
• A tendency to avoid firmness unless the individual sees how it will bring benefit and eliminate greater hurt
• A closing of the spirit to those who are insincere or insensitive
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Mercy
• The avoidance of firmness may appear to be weakness and indecisiveness
• The sensitivity to the spirit and feelings of others may cause some to feel the individual is guided by emotion rather than logic
• The attractions and understanding of those in distress may be misinterpreted by those of the opposite sex
• The sensitivity to words and actions that cause hurts may appear to be taking up another’s offense
• The ability to detect insincere motives may cause some to feel he or she is hard to get to know
The Gift of Mercy in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Attentiveness Unconcern
Sensitivity Callousness
Fairness Partiality
Compassion Indifference
Gentleness Harshness
Deference Rudeness
Meekness Anger