Spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit. They cannot be obtained by any other method. You
cannot just decide you want to have or use a certain spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit must give it to
you.
On another occasion, seven sons of the chief of the priests saw the miracles of the Apostle Paul
and tried to use this gift to cast out evil spirits:
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but
who are ye?And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame
them, and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked
and wounded. (Acts 19:15-16)It can be dangerous to try to operate a gift without the Holy Spirit's anointing.
NOT USING THE GIFTS PROPERLY:
In I Corinthians 12-14 Paul deals with proper use of spiritual gifts. To summarize the teaching
of these chapters he states:
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace...Let all things be done
decently and in order. (I Corinthians 14:33,40)God is not the author of confusion. Where there is confusion the gifts are not being used
correctly. Spiritual gifts can also be improperly used when you manipulate people, gain wealth,
or use them for your own selfish satisfaction rather than in ministry to others.
The guidelines for use of gifts which Paul gives in I Corinthians 12-14 prevent confusion. You
will have an opportunity to study these in the "For Further Study" section of this lesson.
GLORIYING YOUR GIFT:
When you "glorify" your gift, you consider it more special than other gifts. You begin to see the
gift as greater than the Giver.
MANY GIFTS FROM ONE SOURCE
The Bible indicates there are many gifts which come from one source. The source of spiritual
gifts is the Holy Spirit. He gives and operates these gifts in the lives of believers: