I just finished the final proof check of my new book on spiritual gifts a few weeks ago. I am THRILLED! But, there is something I have to confess to you. Even though I am convinced of just how valuable and incentivizing the book can be to many, I am guessing that the book will be passed over by many. Why? It’s simple: some Christians may not even know that they HAVE spiritual gifts. Others consider the topic off limits. And still others, in a flurry of emotion, will expect a kind of “epiphany” IN PLACE of the time to pray, to study or to learn about spiritual gifts. The exhortation to one generation, 2,000 years ago, stands in every way, valid for today’s Church. Paul said it to Timothy this way, “

Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received...Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.

Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation, 1 Tim. 4:14–16.

What does it mean to “neglect the spiritual gift” we have as Christians? For starters, it means that we worry about numbers, statistics, programming and processes more than we consider spiritual fruit. We live to “DO” stuff, but not to “GROW” fruit! We live full of ourselves, our needs, our burdens, or our hopes. But forget, sometimes intentionally, that the REASON we have been left on earth as Christians is to “bear fruit.” That is what a spiritual gift produces.

Maybe you are like I had been for many years. I lived the first 15 years of my Christian life without much fruit or spiritual discipline. The fact is, the extent of my spiritual exercise and discipline amounted to not more than an occasional “good work” for someone or with a group of Christians. My spiritual life could be reduced to about 60 minutes once a week. Not much of fruitfulness.

Why should we not neglect spiritual gifts? I have discovered four important reasons. I will share two of them here today, and two in a future post.

First, neglecting spiritual gifts will noticeably reduce your fruit in the Christian life. It is like a poorly pruned apple or peach tree…the tree will have lots of pretty leaves! But very little fruit to enjoy. What is worse, something or someone will take the place in your life of being fruitful, of influencing or uplifting others, and cause you to feel a variety of other things in its place. When no fruit is visible (either by manifesting Christian character or in serving others), the almost immediate response is to use substitutes in place of the fruit.

You feel, for instance, that you cannot match the productivity, the following, or the changes in lives that some others do. You feel frustrated because it seems like God is not working through you. What causes this? The nagging idea that you have to measure up or imitate the really spiritual Christians. The problem is that you become pre-occupied with externals, you reach a point of stagnation and you loose hope that God will every do anything noticeable through you. You have become ensnared in the routine and the mechanics, without real results in the lives of others.

Second, by properly employing spiritual gifts, you and others can observe the working of the Holy Spirit. But, on the other hand, if because we only see a life of fruitlessness or weakness, we may lose hope that God can work through and in us, and the consequence is we become doubtful that the Holy Spirit, God’s gifted Comforter, our Guide and Teacher, is present. The problem is, if we give up on sharing our spiritual gift–we neglect it–then the evidence of the Holy Spirit working is practically non-visible. At the least, it becomes a matter of questioning when, how and where the Spirit works in us as Christians.

I personally believe that this is the most frequent cause that Christians lack joy and peace! They do not see God at work. They do not know how to submit or even recognize the way the Spirit leads or teaches. The Spirit is sort of a stranger, a distant “presence.” but NOT the One whom Christ sent to console, empower, enlighten us! With regular submission to the Spirit, we will observe concrete results in our minds, and more importantly, in our service as believers! (see Eph. 1:17-21).

What we must pursue is a life of walking in the Spirit, which means we believers in the Lord Jesus Christ employ spiritual gifts as He designed us to. Here are a few of the exciting results we will see:

• We have a desire to OBEY God.
• We experience JOY in God and with other Christians
• We sense the UNITY of the Spirit in the Church
• We mature in the FAITH.
• And, we see FRUIT–results–through serving others.

If these evidences of the Holy Spirit are not present in your life, take time to examine yourself to see why, to investigate what is missing!

To help you investigate, let me encourage you to get a copy of my newly completed, and soon to be published book SPIRITUAL GIFTS, IDENTIFY & USE THEM THROUGH THE P.R.I.Z.M. OF GOD’S GRACE (Copyright 2023 David L. Rogers) Please complete the form here in my Blog to request an order, PRE-Printing (*that is, in anticipation of the printing, scheduled for the fall of 2023).

Designed to walk you through FIVE concise questionnaires, this book offers practice, time-tested tools to help you identify and use your spiritual gifts. You’ll find tools to guide you to understand why gifts are important, what are the prerequisites to consider, how gifts are anchored in your character, and other simple steps.

Get your copy by reserving it now! You will receive an email notifying you when they are available. Please fill out the form by visiting the tab “COMING SOON” on my blog.

The Word of God dedicates over 75 verses to the important topic of Spiritual Gifts. It is time we took it seriously! It is time to take note of what the apostles Paul, Peter, and John highlighted as the foundation of how each believer adds to, builds up, enriches and completes the church! There is no time to waste!

Be on the lookout for more posts here about this foundational matter in the next weeks and months. You will find simple, clear concepts from the Bible that can make a huge impact in your life and service for the Lord.

David L. Rogers, M.A. Min.
Laurel Springs, NJ, EEUU.