Our Spiritual Secret Weapon

 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8

Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit, has given every Christian at least one spiritual gift, which enables him or her to perform an important spiritual function in the Body of Christ with joy and effectiveness. So, how can we use our spiritual gifts to make the biggest positive impact in the lives of others? The apostle Peter answers by revealing our secret weapon.

1 Peter 4, Peter tells us, “The end of all things is near” (v. 7). Or, as the New Living Translation puts it, “The end of the world is coming soon.” Christians in the early church believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. And over the past 2,000 years, Christians in every generation have thought the same thing. Jesus is okay with that – because He wants us to live expectantly. In every generation, Jesus wants Christians to realize that His return is closer than ever before. He truly IS coming soon, so there’s no time to lose. We need to serve the Lord.

Peter goes on to say, “Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray” (v. 7). Because the window of opportunity to reach this world for Jesus Christ is shrinking, you and I need to be at the top of our game. We can’t indulge in drugs, alcohol or trashy entertainment, because those things cloud our thinking and sabotage our self-control. And if you and I are not clear-minded and self-controlled, we won’t be able to pray as Christ needs us to pray. And if we don’t pray as Christ needs us to pray, His life-changing work won’t get done.

Then, in verse 8, Peter mentions the priority of love: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” This isn’t an unrelated topic. If you look at all four chapters in the New Testament that deal with spiritual gifts (Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4, and 1 Peter 4), you’ll see that love is right there—every time. In Ephesians 3, right before the chapter teaching us about spiritual gifts, Paul prays that we will grasp how long and wide and high and deep is the love of Christ (v. 18). In Romans 12, Paul teaches about love right after highlighting seven of the spiritual gifts. And in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul spends a whole chapter on love in the middle of his teaching about spiritual gifts.

In the New Testament, we see agape love emphasized before, after and during the teachings on spiritual gifts. You see, it’s not enough to just HAVE a spiritual gift—you must USE your spiritual gift. And it’s not enough to just use your spiritual gift. You must use it … in love. So, why should you use your spiritual gifts to serve others? Because you love God deeply, and you love others deeply. Sometimes Christians are hard to love. But love us deeply anyway.

 Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley.

Are You Living Up to Your Calling?

 “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” – Ephesians 4:1

Can you and I ever pay back God the Father for all that He’s done for us? No way. But we can sure try our very best. And one way for us to do this is by using our spiritual gifts.

Remember, every Christian has received at least one gift from the Holy Spirit. These spiritual gifts are needed for your church family to carry out its mission effectively. Jesus wants to give more of His grace to us … through each other. When you use your spiritual gifts to serve other Christians, they are blessed, and Jesus Christ is glorified.

As individuals, Christians have a very diverse group of backgrounds, races and opinions. But as believers and followers of Jesus Christ we are truly one because, as Paul writes: “There is one body and one Spirit ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all” (v. 4-6).

When Christians all carry out their spiritual gifts, it serves three important purposes.

Purpose #1: “To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (v. 12). One of my greatest responsibilities as a pastor is to equip Christians for the work of ministry, so that together we can use our spiritual gifts to help build up the church.

Purpose #2: To bring us to unity in our faith and unity in our knowledge of Jesus Christ (v. 13). When you use your spiritual gift to serve others, it’s like a neon arrow that points the rest of us to Jesus. It opens our eyes to fresh aspects of Christ’s character, and we are naturally drawn closer to Him. So, as we get down to the business of serving each other with our spiritual gifts, the end result is that we become more unified in our faith and in our knowledge of Christ.

Purpose #3: To move us all from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity (vs. 13-16). Recently, a lot of us enjoyed watching the achievements of athletes in the Summer Olympics. But have you ever seen the BABY Olympics? If you want to smile, there are some adorable YouTube videos of babies all dressed up in athletic uniforms to perform their feats: toddling in all directions, dangling from rings three feet off the ground, crying as they drop their little toy barbells. Babies are really cute even when they don’t accomplish much! But the same can’t be said about adults. Adults are NOT cute when they whine like babies and don’t achieve any results.

Brothers and sisters, Christ has called you and me to stop whining and accomplish much for the good of each other AND for the glory of God. And our spiritual gifts are a critical piece of the puzzle.

 Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley.

Your Spiritual Gift Isn’t for You

 “All these [gifts] are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” – 1 Corinthians 12:11

If you’re not sure what your spiritual gift is or how to use it, you’re not alone.

Back in the First Century, the new Christian church in Corinth was struggling. It was very hard for these baby Christians in Sin City to be “in the world” but NOT “of the world.” The Corinthian church needed to be corrected, rebuked and encouraged in many areas of ministry—including in the area of spiritual gifts.

So the Apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the church he had spent a year and a half planting. He wanted to make it clear that the Holy Spirit had given the Corinthian Christians every spiritual gift that they needed to do ministry in their church AND in their community with joy and effectiveness. In chapter 1 verse 7, Paul wrote, “You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”

But chapter 12 makes it clear that they were clueless about how to properly use their spiritual gifts. So, Paul shared these important truths:

#1: Every spiritual gift given to you by the Holy Spirit has been given to you for the good of others (v. 7). Let this truth sink in: Your spiritual gifts are not primarily for you. They’re for everyone else in this church but you. For example, if you have the spiritual gifts of hospitality and encouragement, serving other Christians with your two gifts will bring you much joy—but that joy is just an added bonus. Your gifts were given to you for the good of others. The same is true of the gift of helping, administration, faith or mercy. God blesses you with great joy as you use your gifts. But the Holy Spirit gave those gifts to you … for others.

#2: In His perfect wisdom the Holy Spirit has supernaturally and strategically given you the spiritual gift(s) that are just right for you and your church (v. 11). The truth is ... as you discover your spiritual gifts, you might not like what you’ve got. Well, what’s new? Some of you don’t like your physical gifts either. You might think your nose is too big, your lips are too small … the list goes on. But one of the signs of emotional maturity is accepting and being thankful for what you’ve been given. The Holy Spirit knows what He’s doing—giving you the spiritual gifts that are just right for you, so you can serve others with joy and effectiveness.

#3: Your spiritual gift is a gift of grace from God to the Church, and you have the privilege of delivering it. This is pretty cool: The English word “gifts” in 1 Corinthians 12 is the translation of the Greek word “charismata.” Charis means grace. So, charismata literally means … “grace gifts.” EVERY spiritual gift is a grace gift from God to the Church through you!

When you became a Christian, Jesus adopted you into a big, beautiful new family. You’re a part of an amazing, gifted Church! And the Holy Spirit is calling you to use your spiritual gifts for the good of your church and your community. Freely you have received; freely give. 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley.

You Are Gifted to Serve!

“I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” – Romans 12:1 

If you’re a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I have good news for you! You have at least one spiritual gift.

But just what is a spiritual gift? Here’s a good definition that is grounded in the truth of Scripture: A spiritual gift is a God-given skill or ability which enables every Christian to perform an important spiritual function in the Christ’s church with joy and effectiveness. And according to Romans 12, using these gifts is a vital act of worship.

Just as a human body has many different parts that work together, Christ’s Church has many different Christians who use their spiritual gifts together to keep the Church healthy and productive. While it’s hard to say exactly how many spiritual gifts are alive and well in the church today, in Romans 7:6-8, Paul mentions seven spiritual gifts: prophecy (v. 6), serving and teaching (v. 7), exhortation, giving, leadership and mercy (v8). Other gifts are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, especially in 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4.

I can say with confidence that if you are a Christian, you have at least one of these spiritual gifts. And if you want to grow and serve Christ with joy and effectiveness, the Apostle Paul says this calls for three essentials:

Essential #1: Honest self-evaluation (v. 3). Warren Wiersbe writes, “Each Christian must know what his spiritual gifts are and what ministry (or ministries) he is to have in the local church…. We were saved ‘by grace, through faith’, and we must live and serve ‘by grace through faith.’ …. When the individual believers in a church know their gifts, accept them by faith, and use them for God’s glory, then God can bless in a wonderful way.”

Essential #2: Humble cooperation (vs. 4-8). Have you ever been to a church where the staff and leaders looked busier than a one-armed juggler? There are a couple of possible reasons for that. Either the leaders aren’t allowing enough saints to serve … OR, too many Christians just aren’t serving. Individually, none of us is that great. But when we come together into a single unit, humble cooperation makes for some beautiful and powerful ministry.

Essential #3: Loving devotion (vs. 9-16). Regardless of which spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has given you to use, Jesus Christ calls you to be motivated by love. Why do you serve Christ? Because you love Christ. And why do you use your spiritual gifts to serve your brothers and sisters in Christ? Because you love them.

Love should be the driving force behind all that we do as Christians. And when it is, “All men will know that we are Christ’s disciples” (1 Timothy 6:11-16). The world will be drawn to Christ as they observe how we love one another.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley.