The Manager

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.  Romans 12:3-8

And so, Paul gives his discourse on the subject of spiritual gifts.  There are other passages which support and add to the list of the gifts, and, we might add, there are some gifts which are not mentioned but are obviously gifts of the Spirit, as we see them utilized in the Body of Christ. 

If we start with just the ones listed in the verses above, can you find yourself?  Do you see yourself as motivated to be involved in the gift of serving, or the gift of giving, or perhaps one of the others? In your defense, sometimes the gift we receive and possess is not obvious for a while, however, even without recognizing it with our finite minds, it surfaces, not so much in ways we would expect, but in the way in which God operates through us to the benefit of others.  It is through us God uses our gift to bless all. 

I picked up a little book this week entitled "Managing God's Gifts," by Leo R. Van Dolson and Thomas A. Davis.  The publishers, in the preface of the book, reveal a phrase concerning our spiritual gifts which I think helps us to understand them more fully.  From the preface we get this line, "Every human becomes a "spiritual gift manager." 

Have you considered yourself as a manager of your gift or gifts?(Yes, there may be more than one.)  To be a manager, implies that to some extent, managing your gift involves you being in control.  Let's clarify that immediately by saying it doesn't mean you, in the flesh, are controlling anything.  It means that you, in the hands of the Holy Spirit, have turned yourself over to his direction so completely that you are allowing him to direct your life in the use of your gift. 

Needless to say, this type of subjecting ourselves to the direction of the Holy Spirit means we must be committed to his plan of strengthening us in our gift to be a blessing to our entire spiritual family.  It further means that our gift can become so powerful in our words and deeds, that we are actually an encouragement to those who are outside of Christ's Body.

The idea of you being a" gift manager" comes into the picture when you realize the individual and personal responsibility of commitment.  Are we willing to place ourselves completely under the guidance of God's Spirit, that we are easily identified as a person of mercy, or a person of generosity, or a person of whatever our gift might be?  

How do we know which of the spiritual gifts are ours?  It takes some time in prayer, sometimes lots of time in prayer, surrendering ourselves to the Will of God, and determined that our lives now belong to him.  In so doing, you will be blessed, the church will be blessed, and God will continue to receive all glory. 

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