The gift of Healing

Primary Text: 1 Corinthians 12:9, 28

The gift of Healing is the ability to be used as a human intermediary through whom God’s supernatural power is applied to a person’s physical or emotional needs. The purpose of the gift is to bring emotional wholeness and physical health to the body of Christ as well as to lift and exalt the name of Jesus.

Once again, I would mention that the miraculous gifts, as this one is generally considered to be, are quite rare, and they are not given to make a celebrity out of the recipient, thus I would suggest that if we should see someone doing “healings” in from of a large audience on television, that we are not likely to be watching someone with the spiritual gift of healing at work!

This obviously brings us to some cautions about the gift, and they include:

• Thinking that you can heal others whenever you desire.

•Believing that it is your power and not God’s.

•Believing that if the sick person just had more faith they would be healed.

• Believing that it is always God’s will that someone be healed.

That last one deserves a little extra consideration, for it is natural for us to assume that God always wants a person to be healed of whatever they may suffer from, however this is not necessarily the case. I know that may sound harsh, but it is true. Remember, we were not promised an easy life on this earth, for did not Jesus teach that the servant is not greater than the Master? Instead, Jesus told us that like Him, we would face pain and temptation and sacrifice in this life, and it is common enough that an illness is the means by which we pass from this life of tears into a life of perfection in His presence. Thus in all things, our focus should be upon His will and not our own.

Evidence that you might have this gift can include…

•Others have been healed when you pray for them.

•People have sought you to pray for a physical healing.

•You have a great measure of faith and spend much time in prayer.

I hope that you noticed that each of these involves prayer, for prayer is the source of any power that is being used in this gift.

The gift of Giving

Primary Text: Romans 12:8 (see also Mark 12:41-44)

The gift of giving is the ability to cheerfully and generously contribute personal resources to God’s work. The purpose of the gift is to discover and provide for the needs of the body of Christ in such a way that God is glorified, not the giver.

A person with this gift is uncommon, for they are not the ones who give something extra when a need is presented and call it good. Instead, these are people who look for needs to fill, they go above and beyond any reasonable expectation; if there is a need, this person is all over it. The gift is usually associated with money, but sometimes  it might be labor or expertise or a skill set. Such a person does not wait to be asked, they learn about a situation and just show up. They seek no recognition, they seek no repayment and frequently and sometimes exclusively give secretly for they don’t want others to know who gave the gift or met the need. Again, this is an unusual spiritual gift and it goes well beyond just being a loving and caring person.

As in Mark 12:41-44, the amount of the gift is not what causes it to be generous; it’s the proportion of the gift.  The widow gave all she had, even though the amount was small: It was all she had. People who have the gift of giving give what they have and try to find more ways to give.

As you can see, there are cautions about this gif. Obviously giving with the wrong motive would be a cautionary area, and giving with the idea of controlling others and pride are cautions. Yet for a person who really has the gift, not being able to say “no” is an even bigger caution. The first three things I listed are really signs that the person doesn’t have the gift.

Evidence of the gift would be:

• You tend to give quietly and/or secretly.

•You take the initiative to find things to contribute to.

•You experience deep joy and satisfaction through giving.

•You are resourceful or have the ability to make money.

•It is easy for you to give large amounts of money.

•You are more concerned with meeting the need than you are with how much money you actually give