THE CODE 28 DECEMBER 2025 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition We’ve all been the recipients of beautifully wrapped gifts at Christmas, birthdays and other special occasions. Can you imagine someone giving you a gift that you never take the time to open? What good is a gift if it is left untouched and unopened? God has given every believer a gift from the Holy Spirit, but tragically, many of those gifts are unacknowledged, unopened and unused. It is time to recognize your own special gift, open it, and use it for God's glory and for the benefit of His Church here on earth. These gifts from God are uniquely given to each and every believer (Ephesians 47). They are not given because of any natural ability we may or may not possess. Neither are they given for merit as if they were earned or deserved. These spiritual gifts are given to every believer at their moment of conversion. Since these are gifts of God, they are not to be sought. However, Paul does say we should "earnestly desire the best gifts" (1 Corinthians 12:31). One of the issues in Corinth was that the believers were maximizing the minor gifts and minimizing the major ones. We don't seek gifts; they are given to us by Someone who loves us. Spiritual gifts Spiritual gifts are not to be sought, and they cannot be caught. We do not receive a spiritual gift by staying close to others who have them, hoping they might rub off on us. Neither can they be taught. They are just what they are. gifts. From time to time, we might be confronted by well-meaning believers who try to teach us how to use a particular gift, usually tongues. My experience is that those who attempt to teach others how to use those gifts seldom teach how to use the gifts of faith or mercy. We might add that spiritual gifts cannot be bought either. You can't buy a gift. When someone gives you a gift and you try to reciprocate with cash, it is no longer a gift. It becomes something you bought. You can do this at the store. Finally, we would note that the gifts should not be fought. Never fight against what God has gifted you. He has your highest benefit and blessing in mind. These sovereignly bestowed gifts given by Christ are grace gifts - they are unmerited. There is not a single verse, not even in the most detailed explanation of spiritual gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12-14, that talks about the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The exercise of any of these gifts is not the proof of the fullness of the Holy Spirit in your life. They are given for equipping, not evidence. Love, the "more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 12·31), is one evidence of His fullness in our lives. Identify your gift How can you know you have a certain gift of the Holy Spirit? First, you will know by your own personal inclination You will love to use it. Those with the gifts of mercy or helps find their greatest joy in being Christ's hand extended to someone in need. Those with the spiritual gift of giving love sharing what they have with others in expanding the work of the kingdom. Those who have the gift of the pastor could never imagine doing anything else. Leading and feeding the church of the Lord Jesus is where they find purpose and fulfillment Add to the element of personal inclination the fact that spiritually mindful people in the church will recognize gifts in other people, and the church will use them. Once you discover your own spiritual gift, it will be productive. It will draw you into service. Anyone who discovers and uses their spiritual gift will be immersed in the service of Jesus. It will produce unity in the body. And it will produce a new or strengthened environment of love. The Bible says, "I show you a more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 12 31). Paul then continued into the well-known thirteenth chapter, showing that more excellent way to be love. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though 1 give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13 1-3 NKJV). These are strong words. Yet, love is the environment in which we use our gifts best for God's glory. Without love, we, too, are nothing. Use your gift We should be grateful that these spiritual gifts are given by an all-knowing God Who of us would have chosen and gifted a motley group of rough Galilean fishermen and others to change the world? These are gifts from God Himself. Our churches and seminaries are not factories; they should be refineries where believers can sharpen and refine their God-given callings and giftedness for use. The question in God's kingdom is never Are we qualified?" It should be "Are we called and gifted?" Our God-given gifts are "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God" (Ephesians 4:12-13) These gifts of the Holy Spirit are personal, purposeful and profitable when they are recognized and used for His glory. You have a gift. Identify it. Open it. Use it. You will love what God has gifted you to do. And the church will recognize it and be blessed by it. Go ahead - unwrap it! Taken from The Spirit Code by O.S. Hawkins. Copyright © 2024 by Dr. O.S. Hawkins. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. O. S. Hawkins is the Legacy Pastor of First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale, chancellor of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and President Emeritus of GuideStone. He has served pastorates, including the First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, for more than 25 years. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, he has a BBA from Texas Christian University and his MDiv and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. For almost a quarter of a century, he served as president of GuideStone Financial Resources, with assets under management of $20 billion, serving 250,000 pastors, church staff members, missionaries, doctors, university professors, and other workers in various Christian organizations with their investment, retirement and benefit service needs. He is the author of more than 40 books and regularly speaks to business groups and churches nationwide. All of the author’s royalties and proceeds from the Code series support Mission:Dignity. You can learn more about Mission:Dignity by visiting MissionDignity.org. - Dr. O.S. Hawkins - Chancellor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Open Your Gift
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