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Well, it's been forever. Not because I have necessarily been too busy to write. I've just been lazy. I'm offering free consolation hugs. Or you can just shoot me. Your choice.
The topic of this blog post is actually something I've been meaning to write about for a while. It stemmed from something I've been thinking about for quite some time and more recently was talking about with a couple of my coworkers. The topic was spiritual gifts. I know, I know. A Baptist is writing about spiritual gifts. I seriously must be losing it.
Spiritual gifts are one of the biggest advantages we have as a body of believers. If one person has a weakness in an area, they can simply call on someone they know who is strong in that particular area. However, I feel that they somewhere along the line have gone from spiritual gifts to spiritual cop-outs. Let me explain.
Ever heard someone say they have the gift of love, or comment that someone they know has it? What about the gift of patience? Or gentleness? I've heard both believers in person make this statement and pastors from the pulpit make this statement. What's the problem? The problem is that those words and the word "gift" shouldn't be used in the same sentence. Read Galatians 5:22-23. This passage is what we know as The Fruit of the Spirit. We read about how it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are imparted to not a few, but every believer. If we want to read about spiritual gifts given to specific believers, you might be best reading from Acts 2 or 1 Corinthians 12.
The danger with referring to The Fruit of the Spirit as spiritual gifts is because we begin to make excuses for ourselves. If we have a hard time loving someone, we could simply say we just have to work on that because love isn't our gift. If we're struggling with patience, we could simply say that we need to work harder on that as well since it isn't our gift. These were never spiritual gifts. They are the equipment that God has given to you so you can strive to be like Jesus every day. The characteristics of The Fruit of the Spirit are all part of who Jesus was. We are called as believers to become more and more like Him (1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:1-2, Philippians 2:5, Matthew 5:48).
Also, the different characteristics outlined in Galatians 5:22-23 should never be separated. Notice that it's not called The Fruits of the Spirit. It's called The Fruit of the Spirit. If we're missing one of those characteristics, we don't have The Fruit of the Spirit. Suddenly, admitting you don't have the gift of love sounds a little more serious.
We all have struggles. I have more than I care to mention. But something we need to take care of is downgrading a serious struggle we have with simply not having a gift. We need to understand the differences between gifts and requirements. We need to stop admiring people who are obeying and start to follow their example. We need to live like Christ, no matter how difficult it may seem.
