Spiritual Gifts FAQ’s #5
Q: What’s the difference between spiritual gifts and fruit of the Spirit?
A: Scriptures are clear in total that we have individual collections of gifts and no one has all. However, as believers, we are to exhibit ALL of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23)--selectively choosing these is non-optional.
In Galatians, Chapter 5 is labeled “Freedom in Christ” and “Live by the Spirit” in the New International Version translation. Here, the apostle-writer is adamant that Christ has set them/us free from slavery to the law, saying “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (v. 6). That said, Paul is also clear that we are not to use this freedom to indulge our every whim (our sinful nature), but rather to use this freedom to “serve one another humbly in love” (v. 13). As we walk by the Spirit, our character continues to be transformed. Old to new. Lost to found. Slave to free. Selfish to serving. The fruit of that transformation increasingly over our lifetimes looks like “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (v. 22-23). Because we belong to Jesus, our former “passions and desires” have been crucified with Him. As we “keep in step with the Spirit (v. 25), we live differently—embodying Jesus’ commands to Love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
As we develop the character of Christ we are to become people of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.
On top of that, God bestows on each and every believer three or four or five or six spiritual gifts. We are to discover, develop, and employ these Spirit-empowered gifts for the glory of God and betterment of others—while also reflecting the fruit of the Spirit. Together your individual gifts and your collective spiritual fruit are a powerful combination to a world that desperately needs to experience the supernatural workings of the Lord and to receive His “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”.
(For more on gifts, check out the Resources page at GodGiftsYou.com. Take the free assessment and see what gifts God has bestowed on you to contribute to the whole.)
Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Designworkbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and leaders in a diversity of fields for over 30 years. She has also been Equipping Ministries Director at her 1,200 member church since 1999.
Photo (c) Shirley Giles Davis, all rights reserved.