An Introduction to the discussion
As we prepare to jump into a discussion of each of the gifts, it strikes me that a great deal is revealed about the character of God by looking at spiritual gifts. Consider how generous God is in giving us these gifts; He gives us gifts that can take us far beyond our normal human potential, gifts that will enable you and I to travel farther in life, to enjoy life more, do more in life, to have greater impact, and to experience more joy and fulfillment than we could have ever known without Him. Yes, our God is surely generous. He is also revealing his creativity, for He has created all of these gifts, and decided who gets which so that we can manifest His glory. He is also industrious; on a mission. He is putting his industry behind this great mission in a way that can make each one of us a part of the mission, a part of His plan to accomplish great things in us and through us; oh what a glorious adventure!
As we go through the list of spiritual gifts, be thinking of the people around you and what gifts they might possibly have demonstrated. Also, you will no doubt be thinking from time to time that you might have a particular gift. As you do, bear in mind that you could be feeling an impulse that is more related to a responsibility than to the gift itself, keeping in mind the difference that we discussed earlier. There may even be a gift that sounds really awesome to you, and you might think to yourself, “Hey, that sounds really cool, I want that one!” If that happens, please remember that we don’t get to pick our gift, and that spiritual gifts are given by God through the Holy Spirit according to God’s grace and wisdom, not ours. If we should come across a gift that you think you may have, you might want to make a note about that gift for reference later in the study.
Finally, we will be going through the 19 gifts that are specifically mentioned in the primary texts on spiritual gifts, and five of the others that were mentioned yesterday. The five that are not specifically mentioned in the primary texts are the ones that are most commonly recognized as reliable by Christian teachers on the subject. With each gift, I will give a rough definition of the gifts, a textual reference, its purpose, a caution and some things that might be evidence that someone has the gift. So… let’s get started!
The Gift of Helps
Primary Text: 1 Corinthians 12:28
The gift of helps is the ability to work with and support the ministry of other Christians. People with this gift see a need and right away ask if they can help, even though they have their own busy lives to live. In spite of their business, they will actually search out areas in which to help. I’m sure you know people who will say that you should call on them if you need help… and then be too busy, but the person with gift will always show up when called upon, for they simply love to help.
The purpose of the gift is to enable other Christians to be more effective and fruitful in ministry through the accomplishment of practical and necessary tasks.
There are some cautions about this gift: First, some might think they have a lowly gift, but that is simply not true. Without this gift, the work of the Kingdom would never get done. This is probably the most dominant of the gifts, and in all likelihood more than half of the people in the Kingdom have it. It is a gift that brings a great amount of glory to God and it calls for a lot of maturity on the part of those who have it because they are not looking for attention, praise or glory. Helps is not a lowly gift at all; it is a great honor to be called to serve our King in such a way.
A person with helps as a gift might also miss the big picture of where their service fits in, and it is always important for the person they are helping to make sure their helper doesn’t miss the importance of their work. Finally, a person with the gift of helps may be likely to over-commit themselves, and must recognize that not every need they see is a call to service.
A person who has this gift is a person who is available and reliable, who sincerely enjoys helping other people, who has a servant’s spirit, who doesn’t need much in the way of public recognition, and who is often asked to help out.
We’ll pick up later with the gift of leadership…
Life Project Blog 
Don
Looking forward to it! Just background, I am a Missionary Baptist under the American Baptist Association. Our Doctrinal Statement says we believe that Miraculous Spiritual Manifestation Gifts have ceased and the Faith, Hope and Love are the abiding gifts. Within that statement, many would say that the other gifts, such as helps above are subsets of, for instance, love. All would deny the miraculous gifts. But, I’m hanging around until the end.
The big issue I have with Spiritual Gifts is one I see quite often when I am out witnessing. It’s the mindset that a person’s salvation is not complete unless they have some gift. Any time someone is taught that their salvation has even the tiniest thing to do with some action on their part, I become very concerned.
Not too long ago I was visiting a family in their home and nobody in the house ever attended church. The mother of the family said the following to me, and this is close to verbatim. “I never did speak in tongues, so I didn’t think I was ever gonna be saved, so I figured what was the point. I haven’t gone to church since I was just a kid.”
On the other hand, if a person believes in miraculous gifts and understands how their salvation really works, by Grace through Faith, then I’m not going to argue with them over it, as they are still my brother or sister. Tell me your gift is how you are saved and we are going to talk!
Well Wally, I’m sure that we’ll be talking; I agree with you completely. Salvation is by grace through faith!
my background is classic Restoration movement, and I was taught, and in turn I taught in Seminary no less, that miraculous gifts had ended, very much as you stated, but I did so understanding that the Biblical support for that is by inference, and there was debate in the faulty lounge from time to time over the question of whether that inference was “necessary” or “Possible'” I could always see “possible” but “necessary”? I think you’ll see that what I will say on those is reasonable, and if nothing else not all that far from your view, and at least something to think about. Speaking of tongues, they come up on Friday!
I will make sure to be around Friday! And yes, I am sure your view will be quite reasonable, everything you write seems reasonable. And we both know we can disagree and still be reasonable. At any rate, I’m looking forward to more!
Don
Also, I have never been to Seminary. I’m just a guy who loves God and His word. The first Bible I ever owned is dated from June 2007; I had never even had a Bible before then. I had a lousy 45 year starting stretch, but am striving to finish well.
Finishing well is what really counts… and not going to Seminary can be an advantage in many ways!