MANIFESTING THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Webster’s dictionary defines the word gift as a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present. In today’s blog, we are going to learn about the gifts of the holy spirit and the various gifts available to every believer given to us by our heavenly father. Recently, the spirit of the lord impressed upon my heart to know the difference between the gifts of the spirit and the fruits of the spirit. So, what is the difference between the gift of the spirit and the fruits of the spirit? 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (KJV) describes the various kinds of gifts offered to every believer by the Spirit of God, there are 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit.
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT;
- The word of wisdom.
- The utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit
- Faith
- Gifts of healing
- The working of miracles
- Prophecy
- Discerning of spirits
- Divers kinds of tongues
- The interpretation of tongues
The Fruits of the Holy spirit on the other hand was described in Galatians 5: 22-23
THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Gentleness
- Goodness
- Faith
- Meekness
- Self-control
I have realized that a lot of people run after the gifts of the holy spirit and neglect the fruits of the holy spirit. I see this all the time and at one point in my faith walk I realized I was also very guilty of this! Thank God for mercy, God’s mercy is available to us daily as seen in Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”. The love of God and his mercies are available to us every day. Due to our fleshly nature, it can be hard to maintain the fruits of the holy spirit without the help of the holy spirit. So it is very important for us to daily have a relationship with the spirit of God. He teaches all things to us if we obey and listen to his guidance and teachings (John 14:26 NIV) .
HOW DO YOU MANIFEST THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Manifesting the gifts of the holy spirit should work hand in hand with the fruits of the holy spirit. Christians should crave the fruits of the holy spirit first before desiring the gifts of the holy spirit. The fruits of the holy spirit build in us the right character to use and maintain the gifts. God has shown us love in every way and Love is a fruit that we all should desire. The Bible advises us constantly to seek love, in 1 Corinthians 13:2 “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing”. I am nothing without love, so if you have the gifts of the holy spirit and you have no love, in the eyes of God you are nothing and the gifts would mean nothing too.
In conclusion, 1 Corinthians 14:1 says “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy”. Notice how the bible says “PURSUE” love? Pursue is a doing word and it also means to chase after something, so chase after love daily and after doing so, desire God’s gifts. In that order!
God bless you as you read this blog, I pray it ministers to your soul and transforms your walk with God. In Jesus name, AMEN.
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These are timely words of God, Thanks for sharing ma’am
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