The concept of spiritual gifts is shrouded in mystery. For many, spiritual gifts are one of the most fundamental parts of their faith. The charismatic movement, for example, makes the gift of tongues one of the most important signs of salvation and a relationship with Christ. Many say that if you do not speak in tongues, your relationship with Christ isn't fully established.

Spiritual gifts are listed by Paul several times in Scripture, and we will focus on unpacking his writings to the Church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12-14). Although Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written 2000 years ago, it is full of relevant lessons for today’s Church. Here we learn important information about the Holy Spirit, the gifts He gives us, and how we are to use them.

Spiritual gifts are talents or interests given to a Christian by the Holy Spirit after they join the fellowship of believers or upon baptism. Just as when Jesus was baptized: by John, and the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove, so anyone who is baptized by water is to also to receive the Spirit, for only with the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life are they able to walk the Christian life.

Christianity is not about our own works, but God "willing and doing" within us His good pleasure. Read Defining the Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual gifts received upon baptism may be specialties that are already built on talents previously developed, or they may even be tendencies only discovered after an individual has given their life to Christ and is walking with Him. One of the most important testimonies of Christianity is what it does to its adherents. Testimony after testimony exists of lives changed for the better as a result of faith in God and an acceptance of His forgiveness and a new life in Christ.

Baptism is just the beginning. From then on, we are to walk in newness of life day by day with God and practicing a life of submission to God's will. Sometimes that is easier said than done. On the day we are baptized, we do not usually miraculously suddenly become a different person with different tastes or interests. Anytime we want to, we could walk back to the way we were, and take up our old interests and our old habits.

Why Spiritual Gifts?

Christianity is not a crutch—it is a cross. The apostle Paul tells us that we are to die daily. This is not a literal death, of course, but a daily decision to put our selfish motives and desires away and to ask for the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.

As we do this, our old habits lose their hold on us and our interests change. We develop a love for things we may have never imagined we'd love before, and a distaste for the very things we used to enjoy. This is part of the Christian's growth, for the Christian life is not stagnant, but is always moving forward ever higher, ever nearer to the God whose character we want to emulate.

Spiritual gifts are talents that develop in our life as we are growing in Christ. Paul talks in Corinthians about the Church as a body with hands, feet, eyes, ears, and a mouth. He shows that a body is not made up of just one feature, but it has many parts with many distinct functions. Paul likens spiritual gifts to these functions, and reminds us that one is not greater than the other. They all play their important in making a whole individual that can function fully. So it is in the Church.

Each person is given special gifts for blessing and ministering to others. Not everyone can have the same gift, for then there would be a lack.

Those that say that tongues is the most important gift to be desired—as it indicates whether or not we are truly walking with God—misunderstand the function of spiritual gifts, as we shall see later on in this section. In fact, Paul says that love is the one thing that should be desired above all other things. Our service to God must be actuated from a spirit of love and sacrifice, not of duty or pride in one's gifts. Read Paul's lesson on love

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