Spiritual Gifts and Self-Esteem

Does everyone have issues with self-esteem? After studying this topic from every point of view and finally settling on the biblical version, God keeps “renewing my mind” (Romans 12:2) with His will on how I should think about myself. As a typical human being it is easy to go to extremes: pride one minute and pity-party the next. This is because I tend to look at accomplishments to evaluate how I am doing — but God looks at the heart.

This morning, still in Romans, I read this very familiar passage:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:3–8)

Verse 2 says I’m to let God renew my mind. Verse 3 says to think soberly with my level of faith. The next verse points to one body with many members, hinting at our differences. We are united in Christ yet do not all do the same things. All of this, including how I think about myself, is related to spiritual gifts.

Spiritual gifts are from God, given by His grace. They are not talents like playing the piano or painting a portrait or baking cookies. Instead, by the language used, they are ways of thinking that motivate Christians in what we do. This accounts for our different ways of thinking. For instance, those motivated to teach will somehow be involved in matters related to discovery and learning. Those with the gift of compassion want people to be happy and feel good.

In the pursuit of thinking rightly about myself, God urges me to learn more about these gifts and how they motivate those who have them. I’ve learned that a prophet (sometimes called a discerner) is motivated by a deep desire to have others know about God, sharing what His Word says and how God works. The teacher desires that others think God’s thoughts and know His ways and collects and dispenses information that helps that happen. Teachers may teach but also can be found working in libraries or doing research for a pastor.

The list goes on. Gift tests help Christians discover which gift is dominant in their life. Even though we have all seven motivations, one or two will be stronger than the rest. For me, it is the above two. I want to make God’s will heard and understood, and I want others to think His thoughts.

Those who have studied these gifts for many years find that the people who have them have similar characteristics, both positive and negative. The discerner-prophet is black and white in thinking and can be dogmatic to a flaw. The teacher is so wrapped up in gathering information that he or she can neglect to apply it to their own life.

All this and more is part of what God reveals about my nature. It also helps me understand our differences and know how to best work together as a team using our gifts. However, today the stress is on self-worth based on those gifts. I am not motivated to serve as much as I am motivated to pray and study the Scriptures. I’m least motivated to show compassion to someone suffering and more inclined to give them a book. I can put myself down for not being ‘everything’ yet this is not what God planned. Christians need one another and these gifts help us work in the areas where we are gifted instead of trying to put square pegs in round holes. That alone takes a big swipe at spiritual pride (I need people) but also stops pity-parties (People need me).

I’m told it is best to perfect one’s main gifts rather than trying to do better in the weaker areas. That is likely true yet God gives me opportunities to serve (take moving equipment to a friend), to give (support certain ministries), to lead (a prayer group), to exhort or encourage (tell the pastor how his sermon changed me) and to show mercy (take sandwiches to a family in a hospital waiting room). That is, a wholesome and well-rounded sense of self-worth comes from obeying God in whatever He asks, not merely focusing on areas of service that are more comfortable or more natural for me.

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Lord Jesus, this gives me food for thought for today. I get down on myself complaining that I can’t — and become proud when You bless something I did. The balance is not in the middle. It is like holding the tension between sinner/saint and realizing both are true. One of Your servants told me that doing a job poorly is better than not doing it at all. I’m thinking he meant that doing something I’m not gifted to do is better than saying no when You ask me to do such a task. To apply this, I need to be careful when asked to do something that does not ‘fit’ because it might be Your desire to prove that I can do all things through Christ who saved me!

Today’s thankful list . . .

Short chat with oldest son as he drives to work (speaker phone).

Lovely walk through our very green neighborhood.

Able to book a short vacation near the ocean.

Finding fabric for cushions that will look good with our sofa.

Hubby home early from work.

My feet stopped hurting for three days now.

Using spiritual gifts rightly

There is a spiritual gift called discernment, sometimes referred to as a gift of prophecy. This can include the ability to see the future, but it is more about the ability to see things as they really are. This visionary gift is from God, and without the Spirit of God, it cannot function properly.

John the Baptist had it. He knew what was happening and could see the reality of Jesus, who Jesus is and why He came to this earth.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29–34)

The Bible makes no mention of anyone else who saw the dove as John saw it, or if they did, no one recognized that this was the Holy Spirit who “came like a dove, descended like a dove, putting down His pink feet and disappearing into the heart of the Son of God.”

The prophets had this gift. God told them what to say and they spoke to God’s people about the reality of their lives, the rebellion in their hearts, the promises of God for them — either for correction and change, or for blessing if they obeyed.

I knew a woman who was strongly gifted in discernment. However, she had trouble with this gift. She understood the needs and problems of God’s people yet instead of praying or speaking prophetically, she was mostly critical of everyone and everything. Her evaluations were usually correct, but her manner of dealing with them was a thorn and unhelpful to the Body of Christ.

From this passage, I’m instructed. First and perhaps most important is the attitude of John. He ranked Jesus as primary. That means John did not take the place of judge and jury when God gave him a special understanding. He merely declared it, recognizing his place and his purpose in God’s plan. He put the will of God first, and the attitude of Jesus Christ was his guide.

Also, John made no claim that what he saw was from his own ability to see. He did not know until God told him what he should know. Only then did he claim to have “seen and born witness” to the identity and purpose of God the Son.

Good advice on this matter comes from Oswald Chambers who said that God gives spiritual understanding, not so His people will criticize and complain, but so we will pray. This is good thinking. It is easy to point fingers, much more difficult to bring the issues to the Lord and trust Him to take care of them.

Tozer brings out one more point. John the Baptist was a discerning prophet at a time where this gift was rare. He knew what was happening long before others had a clue about Jesus. He was not affected by the four hundred years of silence or all the speculation about Jesus. He knew — because God revealed it to him and because he had the humility to deal with that revelation.

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Jesus, so often I can ‘see’ but instead of praying or seeking Your will concerning what I must do about what I see, I point my fingers and complain or criticize. This must change. Forgive me for abusing and misusing any discernment You give and hold me accountable to be more like Your servant John and certainly more like You.

Biblical Soap Opera

1 Kings 15:25–17:24, Mark 9:38–10:16, Proverbs 4:1–7

The story of the kings of Israel reads like the worst soap opera ever. No one learned anything from the previous king that they rebelled against and then replaced.

For instance, Jeroboam’s son Nadab did evil in God’s sight and made Israel sin. Baasha killed him and reigned in his place, and as soon as he was king, he killed all of Jeroboam household, as the Lord earlier said would happen. But there was war between the king of Judah, Asa, and Baasha king of Israel all their days. (1 Kings 15:32)

Baasha reigned twenty-four years, doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord just as Jeroboam had done, making Israel sin also. For this, God said: “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam . . . .” (1 Kings 16:2–3)

God did just that, and then Elah the son of Baasha reigned two years until his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him and killed him. Zimri reigned in his place, killing all Baasha’s male relatives and his friends. But Zimri reigned only seven days in Tirzah because Israel heard what he’d done and made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. Zimri committed suicide by setting his house on fire.

Then Omri also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, more evil than all who were before him and sinning like Jeroboam as he also provoked the Lord to anger by idolatry. After he died, his son Ahab reigned over Israel, and he did more evil yet. He married Jezebel, a Sidonian and erected an altar for Baal in Samaria. He made an Asherah, and did more to provoke the Lord to anger than all the kings before him. (1 Kings 16:29–34)

Contrast all this with Elijah the prophet. God sent him to tell Ahab this: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

Then God told Elijah (whom Ahab wanted to kill) to “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” (1 Kings 17:1–4)

After that, Elijah was sent to stay with a woman of Zarephath who fed him even though she was nearly out of food. God took care of Elijah, the widow and her son in a miraculous way because small bit of flour and oil she had did not run out. Also, when the boy died, Elijah cried to the Lord who listened and the child revived. Then the  woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (1 Kings 17:1-24)

What a difference between the life of this one man of God and the lives of those kings who refused to follow God. Solomon wrote what his father David taught him: “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you” (Proverbs 4:3–6), but out of these generations that followed, only Elijah took those words to heart.

Each of those kings wanted power and control, but without the Lord in their lives, that power became destructive, not only to them, but to the entire nation, for these leaders caused their people to sin also. Jesus echoed their fate when He said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

He also offered a solution to the problem, spoken in hyperbole yet showing that sinfulness is a drastic thing and so might be the measures taken to deal with it: “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” (Mark 9:42–43)

As I think about my own battles with sin, I know that Jesus isn’t telling me to cut off my hand or whatever else is related to those things that cause me problems, but He is saying that I cannot consider even forgiven sin as a light and inconsequential problem. It affects my relationship with Him. Not only does it dull my spiritual hearing, but it also takes my focus off eternal matters and puts it on myself, and perhaps even causes others to sin. Those “I-wants” must be denied, at the very least because Jesus says that being crippled by their loss is far better than being judged because of any supposed gain.