Last night, as Kori walked us through the analogy of the physical body representing the various members of the spiritual body and their spiritual gifts, I was most struck by Christ's role.  He is the mind of the body.   All of the gifts that have been generously bestowed upon us have come from Christ's hand and are to be used for his purpose, so it seems logical that we would follow his direction for their use.  This seems to be a basic principle, but often the direction of a church or ministry veers from the God's plan and follows the path the pastor or leader paves.  A teacher is to be speaking what the mind commands, and nothing else.  The mouth is not the mind!  When a leader is gathering a group for service, he or she has the responsibility of seeking God's will rather than acting on individual inspiration.  When we become Christians, we submit to Christ. Why then do so many trust their own abilities before seeking the counsel of an omniscient God?  It begins to make more sense now why a hierarchy of spiritual gifts forms.  If we allow ourselves to believe that our job is to follow the mouth, then in our hearts we have diminished the authority of Christ.  When we do so, we no longer view our gifts in the way he does, but we begin to compare our gifts to those in leadership positions who we now see as the head of operations.  Then, the desire is to impress those at the top of the system and we begin to fit our unique gifts into the mold mere man has cast.  At this point, a gift that is powered through Christ becomes a trait dedicated to man.  If you choose to use your gift in such a way, it will not bear the rich harvest we all desire.  Christ is the mind and he is the only one who can direct you to fertile soil.  

~Bonnie

A gift of great value

After only a week of studying spiritual gifts, I am increasingly disheartened yet amazingly optimistic.  Yes, I know that is a great paradox, but bear with me.  I have spent all my life in church, and heard very little on the topic of spiritual gifts.  In fact I was grossly ignorant of their value and meaning.  During lunch today, many of my friends asked my what my bracelet meant.  I began explaining that it was a symbol of  my spiritual gift, but my audience replied with puzzled looks.  No one had heard of spiritual gifts! This is quite audacious considering that these were Christian girls in a Christian school.  I was very thankful that God used me as an instrument to share even a small bit about the amazing gifts he has bestowed upon all believers.  It is a disconcerting reality that many Christians are unaware of their spiritual gifts or even the idea of spiritual gifts.  Now couple this with what we learned Tuesday, that these gifts are for the maturing of the church, and it becomes blatantly obvious why the modern American church is at such a stalemate.  This is where great optimism comes into play because a great harvest awaits in this study!  What a beautiful sight it shall be when the Women of Wilcrest take their place in service.  How much more efficiently will our church run? How many more will be reached? Growth and maturity await those who dedicate themselves to use these various gifts of grace.  I cannot wait to see how all of your gifts manifest according to God's will.  Truly, this is the proper time for this study.  

<3 Bonnie