ln 1st Corinthians, 12, Paul discusses spiritual gifts. He says:
1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
One of my least popular conversation starters in every cell group I’ve attended is,“so what gifts of the Spirit does everyone here operate in?” Typically, I have received looks of befuddlement or worse for my pains. The fact is though, that as a church, we have become largely ignorant of spiritual gifts. Even Charismatic and Pentecostal churches rarely teach about gifts in a systematic way. Nor do they develop them, which is a different subject altogether.
Well, if the Bible says we should not be ignorant about spiritual gifts, I believe we ought to teach about and develop the gifts, don’t you? One of these is “gifts of healings.” It is expressed in the plural- ‘gifts’ and ‘healings’ in the Greek.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit
You and I can pray successfully for healing without the gifts of healing. A person walking in gifts of healing would have more success with less time and effort spent. Sounds unfair? Get over it – that’s just the way it is-not everyone has the same gifts. You may walk in another, equally effective gift. Do you walk in gifts of healings? (To be continued…)
