Gifts Of The Spirit

       Both Paul and Moroni write eloquently about spiritual gifts and both lived during a time of spiritual decline. These gifts should be evident in the true church of Jesus Christ.  Paul urges us to covet them; Moroni admonishes us to never deny them. 

   Moroni 10:17 "And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will."

They are intertwined with the atonement of Jesus Christ in that they have their source at the tree of life. The fruit of the tree is Charity, the pure love of Christ, and it is by far " the more excellent way" of sharing power and strength. And, that is the reason for looking for gifts of the spirit, to share and give benefit to all. 

   I Corinthians 12:31"  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."

   Moroni 10:8 "And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them."

   When I was seminary age I looked for gifts which were given to me. Gifts seemed desirable but I gave very little thought to what I would do with these gifts. It was hard to separate gifts from the concept of talents. Talent seemed an innate ability to create and receive recognition for your creation. Receiving praise and honor for your gifts was very alluring.  It was also the way that a gift could become evil. Desiring recognition for a gift is surely not the reason they are given to men.

  Moroni 10:"And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing."

   We could play it safe and bury our gifts so that we will not be found making them unclean or we could consciously magnify the our gifts given by the spirit and be ever grateful to serve.

  

    To review the concepts in I Corinthians we played Hot Topic. One member gives a topic to his team and they have 60 seconds to list all the words connected with their topic. Click here to see a list of Hot Topics. More here….