What Does the Bible Say About Spiritual Gifts?

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. – 1 Corinthians 12:4–7

According to this verse, the Apostle Paul differentiates between three types of gifts: gifts, service, and working. While this framework isn’t complete, it is a particularly useful and practical way of entering into God’s amazing gifts. These types of gifts can be labeled as the Motivational Gifts, the Ministry Gifts, and the Manifestation Gifts.

Motivational gifts are given to motivate us to go out into the world and love for the common good. This is done through the second type of spiritual gifts: The Ministry Gifts. While working in our various ministries, the third type of spiritual gift comes into play: The Manifestation Gifts. These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit that go beyond our normal ability and are used to reveal the power and presence of God through the living Christ inside us.

The Motivational Spiritual Gifts

The Motivational gifts of the Spirit can be thought of as eyewear that God has given all mankind through which to see his creation. However, once you have received the Holy Spirit, your unique way of looking at the world is transformed from a self-centered view to a God/other view. These gifts help us “relate to others and impact the Body of Christ.” [i]

We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If someone’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. – Romans 12:6-8

Prophecy

To have the gift of prophecy is to have a heightened awareness of sin and the power it plays in the lives of the Church. Prophets can effectively expose sin so that truth is revealed and fellowship with God is restored. [ii] When a Prophet is confronted with their sin, they generally take it quite well and move forward.

They tend to be very blunt and even abrasive when expressing their disdain for wrongs committed. They “tell things like they are” and tend to have strong opinions. Usually seeing things in absolutes, Prophets can come across as unforgiving when confronting someone’s error. However, this is mainly due to their innate ability to identify, define and hate evil.

Exhortation

To have the gift of exhortation is to encourage other believers to grow spiritually. [iii] They can do this through discipling, counseling, and teaching. They tend to value God’s sovereignty above His other characteristics and can see God’s perspective during intense suffering. Rather than empathize with someone’s suffering (as a Mercy would), the Exhorter sees how the person needs to feel and can give detailed steps for learning through suffering. This explains why Exhorters tend to view trials as opportunities for growth.

Teaching

To have the gift of teaching is to see what’s missing in the Church on an institutional level and apply the truth to those areas. This can be expressed as equipping people with methods to spend personal time with God that fit their temperaments. Teachers tend to have a strong way with words and can communicate in a way that illuminates concepts and supplies clarity.

Organization (Do it diligently)

To have the gift of organization is to be able to effectively and efficiently use whatever resources are at your disposal to reach set goals. If those resources are individuals, the organizer can identify and highlight each person’s strengths and position them where they are most effective.

Giving (Do it generously)

To have the gift of giving is to conserve resources to share with others for their benefit. Many givers enjoy staying out of the limelight as they may believe it detracts from the giving by shifting the focus away from the enjoyment and fulfillment of others.

They love finding the “perfect” gift to give the people with whom they are closest, as they tend to be loyal and dependable. Givers tend to be good judges of character and may hold back giving from those they consider unfit to use the gift in the best of ways, though some give regardless.

Serving

The gift of serving is the ability to identify the greatest need and sacrifice personal time to meet that need. In most cases these needs are physical; however, if there is an emotional need, servants aren’t afraid to fill the gap. Servers may be motivated to meet a need to gain the reward of seeing a burden lifted and so share in the relief. Some examples of serving-based organizations are refugee relief, food banks, creating spaces for rest and reprieve for foster parents, etc.

My mom, a servant-gifted individual enjoys cooking meals for families who have undergone surgeries and are unable to cook for themselves. She will usually phrase her offers in this way, “I am making this or that sometime this week, what day will work for me to bring some over for your family?” This way of phrasing doesn’t allow for a yes or no answer and in her experience is accepted much more readily.

Mercy (Do it cheerfully)

To have the gift of mercy is to have a heightened awareness of pain. This pain can be spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical. The mercy-shower sees this pain and desires to relieve it in any way necessary. Some mercies may do this through faith healing or prayer while others may do it through more physical means such as massage, chiropractic, or medication.

They may be able to sense a sinful behavior that is causing an unbeliever their pain and rather than use that as a reason against their healing, they push deeper and intercede on their behalf. Some mercy-showers may be able to feel the same pain a person is feeling which allows for a deeper sense of compassion. Those with this gift feel they must pray; it is not something they can neglect.

The Ministry Spiritual Gifts

Ministry spiritual gifts are “the tools God uses to build up the Church.” [iv] You can think of them as gloves God gives to each believer.

He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors, and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13

Ministry gifts can be confirmed by ordination as the Apostle Paul told Timothy. [v]

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. – I Timothy 4:14

These spiritual gifts are all about the edification of the church body and for bringing us to a more complete wholeness as we grow into the fullness of Christ.

Apostles: They build the church, discern people’s gifts, and place them where they are best equipped to use the gifts God has given them.

Prophets: These tear down incorrect beliefs and rebuild them with correct beliefs. Outside of the church they can passionately and boldly condemn sinful practices of the world and even predict consequences of such actions.

Evangelists: They effectively and relationally share the good news that mankind is reconciled to a loving Father.

Shepherds (Pastors): These bring people into a loving community that encourages, exhorts, rebukes, and teaches the things of God. They may tend to have many friends outside of the church who grew up in Christian households but have strayed from the religion of their youth.

Teachers: Teachers help others obtain the skills necessary to carry out their God-given purpose. They can effectively and concisely communicate the principles and messages of Scripture and accurately explain its proper use for today.

The Manifestation Gifts (Joel 2:28 & John 14:16)

But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. – I Corinthians 12:11

But earnestly desire the higher gifts. – 1 Corinthians 12:31

The Manifestation Gifts are “supernatural demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power.” [vi] These gifts find their origin in God’s Spirit and are manifested for the benefit of others and to bring God glory. Many of these gifts work together so well that it can be difficult to determine which gift is at work. This makes sense for it is less about the gifts and more about the giver of those gifts, the Holy Spirit.

Word of Wisdom

This is a supernatural application of knowledge that surpasses normal human ability. It is the ability to know how to act or speak in certain situations that goes beyond the ability of man and is primarily spoken. It could be described as spiritual intuition about a person’s circumstance without knowing anything about their situation. (Ex. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, give to God what is God’s.)

Word of Knowledge

A “Word of Knowledge” is information that you did not study or learn. It may be about someone whom you’ve never met before. Normally it is information that there is no way you would know. This can happen in conjunction with the gift of healing in the form of pain in your left leg.

Knowing you don’t have a problem with your left leg, you correctly sense that it is someone else’s pain that you aren’t aware of consciously. You ask the person closest to you and lo and behold, they have intense pain in their left leg. (Ex. Jesus knowing that Bartimaeus was sitting underneath a tree.)

Faith

A supernatural increase of faith abnormal from one’s normal faith. What you are asked to do could seem ridiculous to the carnal mind. It could be experienced as going beyond one’s normal personality.

For me, this gift looked like a relationship I had with a fellow student while I was at Western. I was able to talk about God with her and how much He loved her every single time I saw her. I was able to help her with our Hebrew Bible class every time she needed help, whenever and whatever. I was able to share visions with her and pray for her.

After graduating, I was able to share verses with her that God had given me for her. Now, these could be things some of you would be able to do quite easily. In this instance, I was not capable of any of this, but God gave me a huge increase of faith and allowed me to do so.

Healing

This is deliverance from emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual issues. This does not mean that the issue always disappears, but rather, one might gain God’s view of the situation and obtain freedom through His perspective. This can be done by prayer through the laying on of hands and/or by command. It can occur directly through another person, through another’s prayer, or through one’s own prayer.

In the life of Jesus and the apostles, these healings were instantaneous, complete, and lasting. (There are many healings of lame, blind, mute, deaf people, and even resurrections from the dead). Even today there are instances of complete healings. Healing today can appear more mundane (such as in chiropractic healing or massage).

The important thing is the intimate knowledge of where the healing comes from while staying mindful of and watching God’s power flow through a loving heart and bold tongue.

Miracles

Miracles are supernatural power that is not merely a coincidence (for example, turning water to wine, or weather miracles). I’ve noticed that many “modern” miracles go unacknowledged due to their internal nature, such as heart change, freedom from past traumas, and perceiving God’s presence, etc. Any time someone experiences the kingdom of God, it is a miracle.

Prophecy

Prophecy in the Corinthian sense is slightly different than Old Testament prophecy. Although it can be a prediction of the future, it is more commonly an intuitive knowing that arises from within a relational context. It may take the form of words, feelings, images, visions, or Scriptures.

The revelation is applied in a way that builds up and encourages others individually or as a group. It may also have something to do with future events. There is a type of prophecy that can be likened to active imagination and visualization.

One may sit with eyes closed and see a scene play it in their minds. It can be as simple as a person climbing up a vine, looking up the whole time and stopping to see where they came from and when doing so, someone clip s the vine. The person on the vine then falls onto the ground but lands safely on their feet.

A quick interpretation of this vision could be as simple as the person is working towards something and keeping their focus and attention on the future goal. When they stop and look away, something happens to make that goal no longer achievable and they fall but are not hurt.

This interpretation is encouraging and helps validate someone’s life and experience. There is another less interactive prophecy where one may find themselves speaking a bold truth such as: “In three months you are going to be free from “x, y, z” and feel better than you have ever felt.” If this statement comes to pass, then the bold statement was prophetic.

This statement can also be an example of the gift of faith. For the Active Imagination type of prophecy, there are three steps one needs to keep in mind:

• The Revelation – image, vision, word, feeling, thought, or Scripture.
• The Interpretation – asking the Holy Spirit what it means; check and see if it builds up.
• The Application – asking the Holy Spirit who it is for, if you are to share it, and how to share it. (Ex. Jeremiah 33:33 / Acts 21:10-15 / Peter would deny Jesus three times, the Holy Spirit would come, the Son of Man being lifted up, etc.)

Discerning of Spirits

This refers to discerning demons, angels, the flesh, the Spirit, and God, discovering when evil spirits are tormenting someone and interceding on their behalf. The one with this gift is also able to perceive angels and God’s servant-angels. Knowing when something is a “normal” problem or when it is demonic activity. I have a friend who “sees” demons whereas, others might “feel” demons.

Within this gift, there are also instances of “traveling in the spirit”, both physically and spiritually. Philip the Evangelist is essentially teleported by the Holy Spirit after baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch. There are also mentions of Paul being with the churches he planted in the spirit although he was far away in some Roman jail cell.

Speaking in Tongues

There are two types of speaking in tongues: xenoglossia and glossolalia. The former has to do with speaking an existing language not previously learned, while the latter has to do with speaking an unintelligible language spoken between the one praying and God.

Scientifically, when one prays in tongues, the prefrontal cortex, left temporal pole, and caudate nucleus show greatly inhibited activity; essentially helping to regulate emotion, lessen focus, and long-term planning/thinking. There is also an increase in activity in the left parietal lobe which is linked to our sense of body and spatial awareness.

The feeling one gets from speaking in tongues is as if there is a fuller presence here, at this moment. There is also a change in the amygdala, an area known to be heavily involved in emotion and the felt experience of fear. To be more precise, the “personality” disappears, and one is grounded in one’s own body more completely and fully.

Additionally, circulatory cortisol is significantly lessened, and Alpha-amylase is enhanced. Alpha-amylase is an arousal enzyme that is sensitive to quick environmental changes and involves adrenaline release in the sympathetic nervous system. The changes in alpha-amylase allow for one to switch from a quiet and calm environment to a fast-paced and loud environment fluidly.

All in all, speaking in tongues decreases the stress hormone cortisol and desensitizes usual emotional reactions to daily stress triggers. (Ex. Mark 16:17 / the Apostles on Pentecost and throughout the book of Acts).

Interpretation of Tongues

This is the ability to “translate” another person’s message in a language they have never learned. It is used to uplift and encourage the believers. Paul tells members of the Corinthian church who speak in tongues to also pray that they might interpret. In this passage, he is correcting the Corinthians misuse of and inflated value of tongues. He qualifies speaking in tongues in front of the congregation as commanding that there must be someone to interpret, but he is also saying that an individual should pray that they may interpret so during their own alone time their mind might be fruitful.

Conclusion

Much of the writing about the spiritual gifts come from the Apostle Paul in the letters of Romans, 1 Corinthians, and Ephesians as well as from the Apostle Peter in his letter, 1 Peter. These gifts are given to believers and non-believers alike. When a non-believer accepts and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, their self-centered giftings become other-centered giftings.

All three types of gifts reveal God’s sovereignty and power. It may be difficult to learn what your gifts are, and that is okay. Sometimes it is helpful to ask friends or family if they can help you figure out which gifts you have based on your past actions, what you focus on, as well as the way you speak.

As your therapist, I would help you decide your spiritual gifts and work with you to discover how best to use them in a way that honors God and best uses your strengths. I look forward to working with you.