Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit distributes gifts for the purpose of building up the Church and drawing people closer to Jesus by displaying God’s power. The gifts are mostly for the benefit of others and as such must be operated in love. A portion of the gifts can be exercised by a person to some extent. To receive spiritual gifts, belief that the Lord still distributes them and a willingness to serve and walk closely with Him is helpful. Ultimately it is His decision, but we still are to eagerly desire getting spiritual gifts! (1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 14:1) The following is a list of spiritual gifts:

  • Administration: Guidance in a sense of tasks or goals and organization (1 Corinthians 12:28)

  • Apostleship: Planting churches and preaching the gospel in areas it has not been preached (Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 9:1, 12:28, Acts 1:21-22).

  • Craftsmanship/Creativity: The skills to design and carry out artistic or creative work (Exodus 35:30–33, Acts 9:36-42).

  • Discernment: To clearly recognize who is doing something in a situation: God, Satan, human will (Acts 5:3-6; 16:16-18; 1 John 4:1).

  • Discernment of spirits: to distinguish types of spirits present in someone’s life or a situation (1 Corinthians 12:10)

  • Evangelism: To clearly and effectively communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others (Ephesians 4:11, Acts 8:5-12, 26-40, 21:8, Matthew 28:18-20). 

  • Exhortation/Encouragement: To strengthen and encourage those who are wavering in their faith. Those with the gift of exhortation can uplift and motivate others (Romans 12:8, Acts 11:23-24, 14:21-22, 15:32).

  • Faith: Have a trust and confidence in God that allows them to live boldly for Him and manifest that faith in mighty ways (1 Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 11:1-40).

  • Giving: Love to share with others the blessings God has given them and they are also good at taking care of things and the needy (Romans 12:8,12:13, 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, 9:6-15, Acts 4:32-37, Galatians 4:15, Philippians 4:10-18).

  • Healing: Are compassionate toward the sick and pray over them regularly. They have great faith and trust that God can and will heal people (1 Corinthians 12:9, 12:28, 12:30, James 5:13-16).

  • Hospitality: Enjoy hosting events and welcoming people into their home. Often will do this with people in need (1 Peter 4:9–10). 

  • Intercession: Has a strong prayer life. Will often pray for any situation that anyone mentions and will pray in the will of God such that situations change (Romans 8:26–27, Colossians 4:12).

  • Interpretation of Dreams/Visions: The Spirit tells the meaning of dreams and visions to a believer that are not immediately clear (Daniel 1:17, Genesis 40-41).  

  • Interpretation of Tongues: is given by the Holy Spirit to certain individuals to reveal messages spoken in a heavenly tongue to God for the building up of the church. It can also be for human languages that the person does not know (1 Corinthians 12:10, 12:30, 14:1-28).

  • Knowledge: To bring about understanding and to inform the church or individual believers (1 Corinthians 12:8, Romans 15:14, 2 Corinthians 2:14).

  • Leadership: To care for God’s people and lead them into a deeper relationship with Christ and each other (Romans 12:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 1 Timothy 3:4-5, 3:12; 5:17).

  • Mercy: To love and help those who are suffering, and walk with them until the Lord allows their issue to be lifted (Romans 12:8, Matthew 5:7, Luke 10:30-37, James 3:17, Jude 22-23).

  • Miracles: Have an extra measure of faith and desire for God to show Himself in mighty ways and to see many people believe in His son Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:10, 12:28-29, Acts 1:8, Galatians 3:5).

  • Pastor/Shepherd: To humbly teach, guide, protect, and lead followers of Christ in the mission that God has for His church, which mainly is telling people about Jesus (Ephesians 4:11, Jeremiah 3:15, Acts 20:28, John 10:11-18).

  • Prophecy: To receive a Holy Spirit inspired message and deliver it to others in the church to draw people closer to God. It is usually about the future, but also can be knowledge about someone’s present state (Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:10, 14:1-5, Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Peter 4:10-11).

  • Serving/Helps : To fill the many needs of ministry and meet the needs of the Church as it does it goal of telling people about Jesus (Romans 12:7, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 28, Acts 20:35, 2 Timothy 4:11, Revelation 2:19). 

  • Teaching: To teach, instruct, instill doctrine, explain, and expound. Those with the spiritual gift of teaching love to study the Scriptures for extended periods of time (Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Romans 12:7, James 3:1). 

  • Tongues: To speak in a language that is unknown to the user. Either a heavenly language or earthly language (1 Corinthians 12:10, 30, 14:27-28, 33, 39-40, 39, Acts 2:4, 19:6).

  • Wisdom: To impart the truth, good judgement and understanding to believers. To invoke a response of holiness and worship lived out in the world and amongst God’s people (1 Corinthians 1:17-31, 2:1-16, 12:8, Colossians 1:9-10, 2:1-3, James 3:13-18).

Application

Individual: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what gifts He has given you. Ask Him for more so you can serve & love more!


Group: Share what gifts you believe you received in groups of 3-5. For each person in the group, take time to listen to the Holy Spirit to see what He has to say about the gifts, how to use them, or what ones He has given that might have been missed. You can also listen first then share after. You can also pray for people to receive gifts.