Normally, spiritual gifts are given at salvation, but also need to be cultivated through spiritual growth. A determined Christian who strives to learn the Word and develop his teaching ability may become a better teacher than one who may have the spiritual gift of teaching, but who neglects the gift.Īre spiritual gifts given to us when we receive Christ, or are they cultivated through our walk with God? The answer is both. We are all called to evangelize whether or not we have the spiritual gift of evangelism. Some may not be as gifted at evangelism as others, but God commands all Christians to witness and disciple (Matthew 28:18-20 Acts 1:8). If God commands us to do something (such as witness, love the unlovely, disciple the nations, etc.), He will enable us to do it. There is one thing that is abundantly clear-God’s command is God’s enablement. If He did, then who would serve in all of the other functions of the body of Christ? If every Corinthian strongly desired a particular gift, such as prophesying, God would not give everyone that gift simply because they strongly desired it. Having said this, it still remains that these gifts are distributed according to God’s choosing, not our own. Now, why would Paul tell them to strongly desire the “greater” gifts if they already had been given all they would be given, and there was no further opportunity of gaining these greater gifts? It may lead one to believe that even as Solomon sought wisdom from God in order to be a good ruler over God’s people, so God will grant to us those gifts we need in order to be of greater benefit to His church. Paul tells the Corinthian believers that if they are going to covet or long after spiritual gifts, they should strive after the more edifying gifts, such as prophesying (speaking forth the word of God for the building up of others). These passages also indicate that not everyone will have a particular gift.
We are also told in 1 Corinthians 12:28-31 and in 1 Corinthians 14:12-13 that it is God (not us) who chooses the gifts.
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