I should have written this answer last week when it came; but life has kept me so busy this week. Perhaps I have been so busy in the fulfillment of joy that I delayed in writing this; but for that very reason it is even more urgent to get the post out there.
To prevent anyone from not understanding this post; let me give you a little background into the spiritual gifts; without which, this would make no sense at all. Romans 12
5So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness
Within the body of Christ, each believer at the point of salvation is endowed with certain spiritual gifts. The framework for these gifts was born in us and propagated by our very lives; yet, their full potential cannot be seen until our rebirth and the endowment of the gift by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Let me give you a brief synopsis of each gift.
Prophecy is no longer in this age a prophecy into the future. It is that unique gift to discern the truth from heresy. Inherent to this is a very clear vision of justice. The gift carries with it a somewhat black and white view of things. After all, truth is truth and falsehood is false. These are the people who define right and wrong clearly with an innate wisdom that rises above most people. These are the people who speak forth truth and usually speak first. They rise up against any injustice that they sense. They have a unique ability to discern untruth and deception and can generally see straight through to the heart of people’s motives and make quick judgments. Generally they are less concerned with feelings than they are with truth. They are extremely loyal and find it very painful to be confronted with disloyalty. They are willing to suffer criticism as long as they are not themselves untrue to the truth to which they cling. They very firmly stand and know exactly what they believe.
Ministry is that give of service. These are the people who will unselfishly give of their time. Whenever they see a need , they roll their sleeves up and get busy with the task at hand. They are not looking for the spotlight and are content to keep right on working in the background to make certain the task is completed. They are very quick to see the needs of others and will in an organized fashion just get to work completing the job. Their greatest joy is in seeing the job completed. They love to see the recipient with a lighter load. No matter how fatigued they are they keep right on working until it is done.
The teacher is just that, they love to instruct and have a gift in teaching others how to grow. They see the truth with a simplicity and are able to break that down to it’s smallest terms to help someone else who is struggling to understand.
Exhortation is that gift of motivating and urging people to full spiritual growth. They are able to see the potential that lies in the other person and press that person toward being the best that God has for them to be. They can uniquely see the root of the problem and give very precise steps as to how to deal with the problem and move past it. They want to see the action take place and continue to encourage the person they are helping to move through the necessary steps. They also understand that if you are miserable or going through a difficult hurdle, God is working in your life. They know that each believer learns from personal experience. They are happiest once they see the growth take place. They are very strong. They encourage the person to go through the steps or face the consequences of what will happen if they don’t.
Givers are those who know exactly how to be very frugal with their money and things in such a way as to give more away. They prefer simplicity in their own life so that they may help others more.
Mercy is that gift of unconditional love toward people. Those with the gift of mercy feel the joy and the distress of others. They are constantly being drawn toward those who have emotional or mental distress. Their greatest desire is to remove the pain; rather than to allow the other person to go through it. They are the most cheerful, loving limb of God’s body. They forgive and forgive others of the discretions against themself, always seeing the good hidden deep in the heart of even the most unlikely souls that pass their pathway.
When working out of the Spirit all of these gifts have there perfect place in the body of Christ; yet, when they get off kilter any one these gifts can cause harm. Also, whenever they allow the task to take them away from their main focus, which is savoring and glorifying Christ, they can begin to act in a manner nearly opposite of their original gift. Which brings us to the real heart of the story.
Most believers have at least one major gift and a secondary gift that sits closely behind it; sometimes creating discord even within one heart unless they remain finely tuned in the spirit. My primary gift is mercy; with my secondary gift being exhortation. Mercy tends to get tightly involved emotionally with whatever is going on. Because mercy wants to immediately go rushing in to fix the situation, she can become very discouraged and distraught when every effort made seems to fail. That was the point I had reached last week. I felt like a failure and the sheer emotion of the situation was driving me farther and farther away from the joy. I could verbalize the truths of exhortations; but could not feel the energy and the joy of Christ.
Then suddenly, I received a call from Alberto my son. He saw what was happening and realized I needed a reality check. You see, Alberto’s primary gift is exhortation with a secondary gift of prophecy. For him it was clear what needed to be done and so he called and reminded me of the truth of the situation, firmly and strongly. He reminded me of the work I have done and do for Christ and warned me not to let Satan destroy that work by bringing me down into despair. All I needed to hear was that truth from him and suddenly the despair lifted and I have been steady and strongly about the tasks of helping mom; yet, maintaining my joy in Christ. I realized that my becoming miserable would not help her or anyone and that I should not feel guilty for feeling joy and peace while she went through whatever God had ordained or allowed in her life.
Meanwhile, Ronald, my other son had displayed his gifts of primary prophecy and secondary mercy. He had stood firm in the truth and; yet, gently listened to my sorrow. That was a great comfort until I could get it together and also played a great role in preparing me for what Alberto had to tell me.
Melissa, my daughter, who has the gift of ministry primary with teaching secondary had been about the task of calling me each day to reach out and give of her time to make certain I was ok. She listened to me through it all, cheering me on. My perfect cheerleader.
After, my head was back on straight and I realized the magnificent truth of it all—this my family had been endowed with the package of multiple spiritual gifts and that together we are a formidable force against Satan. That is the reason we are never an army of one. We must join together with each gift upholding the others. If one begins to slip, the other reaches in and realigns.
Most importantly joy was restored and with it strength. Perhaps there was a reason Paul reminded those with mercy to do it with cheerfulness. As it says in Nehemiah 8
10Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength
Oh by the way that was the turning point for mom who is now getting better. Thank all of you for your prayers.