Spiritual Gifts vs Talents

Monday, April 16, 2018

What would you think about spending the next few days exploring the topic of spiritual gifts? I’m no expert by any means. But it might be interesting to see where we go on this topic. 

First of all, is there a difference between a spiritual gift and a talent? Well, here’s what I told my Bible Study class yesterday morning. 

I’ve always thought of talents as being God-given at the time of birth. They are things that come easily to us — like math (me) or art (daddy) or carrying on a conversation with a fencepost (mother). They are things that parents look for in their children so that they can be developed either into a vocation or into a creative outlet. 

 

And spiritual gifts are God-given at re-birth (i.e. when people give their lives to Christ). They are also things that come easily to us — like standing up in front of people and explaining the Word of God (Bill), or being a hostess at the Single Moms Oil Change (Jessica), or teaching children in a Sunday School class (Klecenda). They are things that believers look for so that they can use them to bring glory to God.

Does God give us talents or gifts at random? No. He has each one of us and our unique personalities in mind as he graces us with them. He doesn't typically give a pessimist the gift of encouragement. But it might make perfect sense to bless a shy, intelligent person with a talent in chemistry so that he or she can be a research leader.

Talents and spiritual gifts are things to be celebrated and not feared. God knows exactly what He is doing. He wants us to be happy and fulfilled in this life and He wants to be glorified in the process. 

So what are some of the spiritual gifts and how are we to use them. Stay tuned this week as we look at a few of them.

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