Gifts In and For

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

GIFTS IN AND FOR

Rom 12:3-8

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

Paul is using the human body as an illustration of how the body of Christ should function. Each one of us belongs to all the other members, and as with the human body, each member of the body of Christ does not have the same function. It would seem difficult to believe that with so many believers in the world, some of the gifts of the Spirit are not repeated, however, the point is there are various gifts and therefore the Spirit determines in whom he will manifest which gift. That is to say, we cannot pick and choose which gift we would like to have, as if it were a menu at a restaurant. Once again the gift which the Spirit gives, or manifests within us in accordance with the grace given. Once again we could see this grace in various ways. It can be seen as the act of graciousness of God, which fits this context, as well as it could be seen as that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, and the sweetness of God, which also fits this context. It also can be seen as the loving kindness, goodwill, and favor of God, which fits this context as well. Then it has been used in this sense of his divine influence upon our heart and how that is reflected in our lives, which also fits right into this context. Whichever way we see this grace, it is all about God giving or acting in and on our behalf, so that we use whatever gift he uses with to further his kingdom. Let us examine each of these gifts mentioned within this letter to the Romans, although as we know there are other gifts Paul mentions to those in Corinth, and in Ephesus. So then if God determines to gift someone with prophesying, it does not mean this person fills the office of prophet, but that God simply wants this person to declare the mind and counsel of God. This can happen because of the amount of faith a person has and thus is willing to hear the voice of God within them, or could we say God’s divine influence and speaking that which God has influenced this person's heart and mind. Certainly, this was true of all the prophets of old, but it would appear, this can still happen in the New Testament Church. We would think, speaking on a personal level, since we have had numerous times to be able to stand in the pulpit of various churches, with much preparation, we end up speaking words that were not planned, and which afterward have no recollection of what we said. Knowing others who preach the word of God and exchanging experiences, we know that other pastors or preachers have had the same thing happen to them. Therefore, we could conclude that this could be the gift of prophesying present in the post-modern church of today. This is not to say that this gift is exclusively given to the pastor/teacher of the church. We also have to remember that all gifts are given by the Spirit as he determines, therefore, any gift can be manifested within any believer at any time, but not by the will of man, but by the will of God.