While reading Romans 11-12 today I got an urge to discuss spiritual gifts. But first, chapter 11 got me thinking about something confusing. I am no teacher, that is for sure, so still young in my faith (4 years and pressing on for Christ!) I still have a few questions left.
So basically God has mercy on Israel, He doesn't reject them for what they are doing. They have abandoned God! But God still has mercy on them because they are His people, but since they abandoned Him, He decided to save the Gentiles to make the Israelites jealous and want their salvation back. This Paul explains by using the comparison to a tree from the Creator.
Let's say there's this one particular tree God handcrafted to be the "Israelite Tree". God chopped off the Israelite branches and grafted in the Gentile branches and they were saved. God would never take that away from anyone. The Israelite could still be grafted back in. They were merely being saved in God's salvation bin, if you will. :) Not meaning to make anything sound bad ha ha!
This brought this question to mind for me to keep thinking about. God is saying that salvation was only for His chosen people. He is also saying the Gentiles (the sinners) were not His chosen people and were not going to be saved...but the Israelites messed up and abandoned God and God THEN gave salvation to the Gentiles too. This confused me. Was salvation only meant for God's people such as Abraham, Isacc, and so on? Was it only because of the mistakes of the Israelites that everyone can be saved today? I need to ask someone about that.. But I am glad none the less for this wonderful event if it is how I am understanding it to be. Even if it is totally wrong what I am understanding, I am still glad I am saved. :)
Now to spiritual gifts and how to treat them. Chapter 12 verses 6 through 13 (Romans 12:6-13) Paul points out that everyone in the body of Christ (all Christians) plays an important role just as different organs and body parts of a human being are all intertwined and used to keep the body alive. EVERYONE has a purpose. EVERYONE has a spiritual gift. Even if you don't know what it is yet, you'll find it. I used to think mine was teaching... boy was I wrong ha ha! Now I know that one of them is FAITH for me! I have strong faith and I just LOVE to pray.
Some of the gifts listed here by Paul are:
-prophecy
-serving
-teaching
-encouragement
-leadership
-kindness
These are only a few. But Paul tells us that when God gives us one of these gifts and we FINALLY find out what it is to use it the right way. For instance:
-prophecy = speak out with MUCH faith
-serving = serve people well
-teaching = teach people well
-encouragement = be encouraging to others all the time
-leadership = take the responsibility SERIOUSLY
-kindness = do it GLADLY
Again, these are only a few of the spiritual gifts you may have. Everyone has each to a different degree, except maybe speaking/understand tongues, that one is special. For example, I love little kids, I love caring for them, I love teaching them about Jesus, I love praying, I love making people happy, and I absolutely LOVE serving others whether on a mission trip or in my everyday life. I am almost always holding doors open for other people. Ask any of my peers at Angelina.
Pray about these gifts and ask God to show you which is your strongest, which ones you need to work on, and which ones you believe you possess. Tell Him these things and see what He says back. It may be a surprise.
Prayer requests? Comment below or email me at livin4christ0129@yahoo.com!!
God bless you!
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