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Let
Your Light So Shine Before Men
Covet The Best Gifts
by Jack W. Hayford
It’s amazing. What I’m seeing happen these
days among students at The King’s College and Seminary, with
the pastors who come to spend time with me in a School of Pastoral
Nurture Consultation, and among leaders and believers to whom I
regularly speak at Regional Conferences is that the light is
dawning as we study the distinction between gifts of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. The hearts of these precious servant leaders
have been made so ready for ministry, and for them, learning to
distinguish the source and purpose of the different gifts of the
Godhead truly opens up "the eyes of their understanding."
All of us who know the Lord are all filled with a stirring inside
that draws us to find our place as a ministering member of the Body
of Christ. Some are called to vocational ministry but for all
believers, there are gifts to be recognized, cultivated—and
then distributed to others. We are learning how to be His
hands extended. Gaining a clear understanding of what the Word
of God says about the gifts of the Godhead will help to form in
you a basis for the operation of those gifts—not only in yourself
but as ministry tools for cultivation of His Kingdom.
The Word of God tells us to "earnestly covet the best gifts"
(1 Corinthians 12) but that isn’t to collect them as you would
fine pieces of art. We are to function as a channel through
which the gifts happen, to covet the gift that is most appropriately
distributed through you for ministering to any situation, trial
or need. The gifts "profit" the Body of Christ by bringing
recognition of our mutual dependency on the grace of God happening
through one another.
The distinctive gifts given by the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit truly represent the Trinity at work in creation
and redemption. It’s important to understand their
difference.
The Trinity in action
The Father who energizes. Father God places multiple
possibilities of seven basic traits or inclinations within us that
are fundamental to who we were created to be. They are prophecy,
ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and showing mercy
(Romans 12:6-8). The gift of the Father is the gift which stirs
you and to which you inherently respond. Finding you have a proficiency
in it should never become a source of pride; you were simply created
that way.
The Lord Jesus who administrates. The Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus, has given to the Church ministries to help people
redemptively be recovered from hindrances to living fully in what
the Father created them to be. The Father says who I am;
Jesus gives people (ministries) to help me understand what I
can become. These broad categories with multiple expressions
are apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers
(Ephesians 4:11).
The Holy Spirit who enables. The Holy Spirit then gives us the
power and gifts to enhance, expand and enlarge what we were made
to be: Gifts of insight—knowledge, wisdom, discernment; Gifts
of power—faith, miracles, healing; and Gifts of utterance—prophecy,
tongues, interpretation (Ephesians 4:8-10). All of the gifts of
the Holy Spirit require verbal expression, a release in our understanding,
and our ability to know how to operate in them.
Father God tells you what He created you to be; Jesus
places in His Church people to help you become a ministering
person in that context, and the Holy Spirit brings the gracious
enhancement of that gift to enlarge your ministry potential.
There are an infinite variety of multiple expressions of all the
gifts the Lord releases in us, and none limit us to only what we
will ever be. He’s continually transforming us by His Spirit.
Our identity is never to become wrapped in up a gift, but in The
Giver—Jesus Christ—and the ministry of the Holy Spirit
in our lives.
The spirit of the
gifts is love
The operation of all these gifts is qualified by discerning the
spirit of the gifts which is love—the love of God
manifesting in the life of the Church (1 Corinthians 13). Love means
that this gift is not for me; it’s for me to deliver to someone
else. Love is the fundamental manifestation of the Holy Spirit,
apparent in both the person ministering the gift and in the one
receiving it. When a gift is delivered or ministered in the spirit
of love, it is made understandable and receivable to people. Jesus
presents a good example of how the gifts function in a person’s
life: He did what the Father wanted Him to by the empowering of
the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of love desires to present the gift in the most appropriate
and gracious manner; for the person receiving, the spirit of love
is an openness to hear what the Lord is saying and to overlook the
imperfection of the person delivering it.
God has a distinct place and purpose in His Kingdom for every person.
The Bible says that He has set the members, each one of them,
in the body just as He pleased
(1 Corinthians 12:18). Our challenge and joy is to grow into the
recognition of what He’s made us to be, and then to experience
its release in Jesus, enabled by the Holy Spirit.
Copyright © 2003 Jack
W. Hayford, Jack Hayford Ministries, Van Nuys, CA 91405
A foundational understanding of the gifts of the Godhead
may be found in Pastor Jack’s book, Grounds
For Living. |
Jack
Hayford Ministries
14800 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91405-2233