Other Spiritual Gifts and their purpose in our lives
There are a great many spiritual gifts that we can receive and seek. Heavenly Father gives abundantly. He gives spiritual gifts to help us in our journey, both mortal and eternal. He desires our growth, our refinement, the change that the journey can cause in us. He desires our joy and our happiness. The spiritual gifts that He gives are all to aid that journey and that change.
1 Corinthians 12:4 tells us that there are diversities of spiritual gifts but they all come from the same Spirit.
These spiritual gifts are spoken of in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians, in the Book of Mormon in Moroni 10, and in the Doctrine and Covenants in section 46. Spiritual gifts were never meant to be hidden. Indeed in Matthew 5:14,16 it states that, “Ye are the light of the world… Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Part of letting our light shine before men is seeking, discovering, developing, and sharing our spiritual gifts.
Some of the spiritual gifts mentioned, are mentioned in all three places in scriptures. Some of these include the spiritual gift of:
Knowing the differences in administration
Knowing the word of wisdom, and teaching the word of wisdom
Knowing and understanding the word of knowledge, and teaching the word of knowledge
Healing, both the faith to heal and the faith to be healed
The working of miracles
The gift of tongues and the gift of the interpretation of tongues
Other spiritual gifts mentioned in Moroni 10 are:
Exceedingly great faith (also mentioned in 1 Cor 12:9)
Prophecy (also found in D&C 46:22)
Vs 14 – The beholding of angels and ministering spirits
The spiritual gifts listed in D&C 46 are somewhat more extensive. They include the following:
Vs 13 – “… to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He was crucified for the sins of the world.”
Vs 14 – To believe on the the words of those who testify of Christ
Vs 16 – To know the diversities of operations, and whether they be of God (also in 1Cor 12:6)
Vs 22 – The gift of prophecy (also in Moroni 10:13)
Vs 23 – The discerning of spirits (also in 1Cor 12:10)
The spiritual gifts that we are given by God are not limited to this list. One of the gifts I have is to ask questions. This is a gift as long as it is used in seeking righteousness and the knowledge and wisdom of God. Optimism can be a spiritual gift, as can creativity. Many gifts from God might seem mundane, but all are divinely inspired.
The spiritual gifts we have been given
So how do we know if we have a spiritual gift? The easiest way is by receiving our patriarchal blessing. Often in our patriarchal blessing, we are told of the spiritual gifts we have been given.
Once we know what gifts we have we must learn to use, develop, and share them. For some spiritual gifts this is easier than others. For the gift of faith it may mean bearing and sharing testimony of the divinity of Christ, His mission, and the relationship you have with Him.
In Moroni 10:8, we are told to deny not the gifts of God. One way to start developing a spiritual gift is to acknowledge it, learn about it, and seek to know how the Lord would have you use it.
D&C 46:30-33 gives us more direction. It states:
Vs 30 – “He that asketh in the Spirit asketh according to the will of God; wherefore it is done even as he asketh.”
This verse brings to mind another in Helaman 10:5 where the Lord is talking with Nephi the son of Helaman. The Lord is commending him for doing as He asked of him. In verse 5 it says, “ And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.”
That all things may be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will. When we ask in the Spirit and according to the will of God we will not be denied.
Part of developing our spiritual gifts is seeking and doing the will of God instead of our own will. When we do this not only are our spiritual gifts developed but we receive blessings because we draw closer to the Lord. By doing His will we yolk ourselves to Him and we can and will accomplish things we thought impossible.
Vs 31 – “All things must be done in the name of Christ, whatsoever you do in the Spirit.”
Whatever we do in developing our spiritual talents or seeking to do His will must be done in the name of Christ. When we act by His direction, doing His will, by His power we do it in His name.
Vs 32-33 – “ And ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed. And ye must practice virtue and holiness before me continually.”
Be grateful for the spiritual gifts that you have been given. As mortal beings with a limited perspective, we tend to compare which often leads to feeling less than. We are told to be grateful for what we have been given. We should not compare our gifts to others. The spiritual gifts that we are given are given specifically for our good, development, and refinement. Being grateful for those gifts is part of developing them. It brings you closer to the Spirit and makes it easier to receive the direction and revelation that we need to receive in order to develop our spiritual gifts.
Seeking additional spiritual gifts
Once we know, have developed and shared the spiritual gifts we have been given, we are not at an end. We must then seek more spiritual gifts. We are able to add additional gifts.
We are taught in Moroni 10:17-18 that, “Gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will. Every good gift cometh of Christ.”
As all spiritual gifts come by the Spirit of Christ, one of the first steps in seeking other spiritual gifts is to pray. Ask for the gift you seek.As with all revelation once you receive it you must act on it. Don’t wait. Follow what you are directed to do and more will be forthcoming.
There are any number of spiritual gifts we can seek. There is one that we are told to seek. This is the gift of charity.
In 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8, we are told what charity does, in essence how we can have charity.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly,seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth.
Each verse tells us what we can do to have charity, what actions, behaviors, and attitudes we can choose and develop. Both things to do and things not to do.
In his talk Charity: Perfect and Everlasting Love, Elder Gene R. Cook stated, “Some destroyers of men’s love and peace include but are not limited to: fear, perfectionism, envy, unsubmissiveness, doubt, anger, jealousy, unrighteous control, unbelief, impatience, judging, fostering hurt feelings, pride, contention, murmuring, seeking for honor, competition, lying. All of these are of the natural man, and not of the man of Christ.”
I am sure there are any number of items that could be added to that list.The purpose is awareness. So that we may do a personal inventory of our behaviors and attitudes and change those no in accordance with the will of the Lord or the gift of charity.
Life is hard. What we do and which direction we turn have a great impact on who we choose to become and in attaining the gift of charity. When times are hard do we get angry? Or do we turn to the Savior? Do we seek His love and strength to sustain us through hard times? When we do this we find out how empowering charity can be.
Eler Cook says of a friend of his, when she hit hard times, “…because she felt God’s love, she suffered tribulation in the Savior’s name, partook of His divine nature, and thus gained a deeper faith in and love for God, along with the strength to handle whatever might come. Her love for others increased. She seemed to forgive others in advance. She learned how to cause them to feel her love. She learned that love shared is love multiplied. Finally, she learned to love herself more, being more kind, gentle, and long-suffering. She stopped her struggle for self-esteem and started loving herself the way God loved her. Her image of her became His image of her.”
Suffering is a part of life. What we do with it is up to us. We can use it to stoke anger and despair, or we can use it to turn towards the Savior. In turning toward Him we can lean on His strength. We can use His power to endure. We can allow the suffering to change and refine us into a closer version of Him.
Elder Cook gives us three ways that we can better clothe ourselves with charity.
- Recognize His love
Do as it says in Moroni 7:48, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love. “Do so in meekness with a broken heart, and you will be filled with hope and love from the Holy Ghost Himself. He will reveal Christ to you.
It is part of the gift of charity to be able to recognize the Lord’s hand and feel His love in all that surrounds us. At times it will not be easy to discover the Lord’s love for us in all that we experience, because He is the perfect, anonymous giver.”
If you look for His love for you in your life, you will find it. You will find it in the small tender mercies that make your life a bit brighter and at times a little easier. You will find it in the strength to endure that you didn’t think you had, and in the patience as you explain one more time to your child why the sky is blue.
His love surrounds us. It uplifts us. It strengthens us and gives us peace amidst the chaos of the storms of life. Look for it and you will find it.
- Receive His love in humility
We must receive His love, believe it. We must let it enfold us and encourage us. We must be grateful for it.
Elder Cook speaks more on this, “Be grateful for the gift and especially for the giver of the gift.True gratitude is the ability to humbly see, feel, and even receive love. Gratitude is a form of returning love to God. Recognize His hand, tell Him so, express your love to Him. As you come to truly know the Lord, you will find an intimate, sacred relationship built on trust. You will come to know He understands your anguish and will, in compassion, always respond to you in love.
Receive it. Feel it. It is not enough just to know that God loves you. The gift is to be felt continually day by day. It will then be a divine motivator throughout your life. Repent. Remove any worldliness from your life, including anger. Receive a continual remission of your sins, and you will bridle all your passions and be filled with love.”
As we feel His love continually throughout our lives, we will draw closer to Him. The closer we are, the more consistently we feel His love the more we will long and work to become like Him, to follow Him. The more grateful we will be for all the tender mercies and miracles in our lives.
- Convey His love
Naturally the more we feel His love in our life, the more we will want to share that love with others. This is how we fulfill the second great commandment to love one another as He loves us.
Elder Cook explains, “The Lord’s response to us is always filled with love. Should not our response to Him be in kind, with real feelings of love? He gives grace (or goodness) for grace, attribute for attribute. As our obedience increases, we receive more grace (or goodness) for the grace we return to Him. Offer Him the refinement of your attributes, so that when He does appear you will be like Him.
As a man first immerses his thoughts in love and conveys those feelings to God, man, or self, a magnified portion of that attribute will surely follow from the Spirit. That is true of all godly attributes. Righteous feelings generated by a man seem to precede the increase of those feelings from the Spirit. Unless you are feeling love, you cannot convey true love to others. The Lord has told us to love one another as He loves us, so remember: to be loved, truly love.
Brothers and sisters, as an especial witness of Christ, I bear testimony to you again of the overwhelming love of God for each of us personally. Magnifying that gift from God will bring a new heart, a pure heart, and ever-increasing love and peace. As we increasingly think and act like Him, the attributes of the natural man will slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. We will become like Him and then truly receive Him.”
It is my hope that you consider what your gifts might be. Some of them might have been mentioned here, while there are hundreds, even thousands of others that may be unique to you. Each talent, ability, and skill is a gift from God, and is there to be mastered and honed so that you might perfect yourself and inspire and uplift those around you.
