“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.”
One thing I love about God’s kingdom is that there are always presents. He loves giving good gifts to his children. Spiritual gifts are the kind of gift that keep on giving — the more you use it, the better it gets. The “stuff” of this world wears out, breaks, and gets added to the pile of other broken stuff. Eternal gifts are good forever, and these are the treasures we should seek most.
Peter gives us a few examples of spiritual gifts here, and you can find other lists in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. I find it interesting that Peter mentions just two gifts: speaking and helping. Peter is testifying to the greatness of God that he, a former fisherman, turned out to be a bold speaker and persevering helper to the early church. Peter knew more than anyone else just how supernatural these gifts were. The first half of his life story did not include public speaking or helping anyone.
Here’s your freedom for today: God’s gifts are empowering. God doesn’t give us decorations to sit back and admire. He gives us gifts that advance his kingdom and empower ourselves and others to live fully. We bring glory to Jesus, just as Peter did, when we display his power in our lives. Every time Peter opened his mouth to speak, supernatural things happened. A gift from God flows out of you when you are walking in the Spirit. Go be the supernatural, kingdom-driven you today and just watch what God will do.