How to Powerfully Impact the World with Your Spiritual Gifts

Posted on Jul 20, 2023 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Tony Evans

As you might imagine, He gave you your gift for a purpose—to strengthen the body of Christ as it serves as His church, “the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Therefore, your gift accomplishes two things. First, it increases the impact of your ministry to the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Peter 4:10). Second, it provides a testimony of your faith to a watching world (Mat- thew 5:16).

There will come a day when each of us will stand before Jesus Christ to give an account for the way we used the gifts He gave us. The question won’t be how much college you attended or how many seminars and workshops you participated in to sharpen your skills. No, the question will focus on how you used those seminars, workshops, and college degrees to support His body of believers and advance His kingdom of light in a world filled with darkness. How did you utilize the gifts given to you to further God’s kingdom on earth? That is the question you will have to answer. If your skills and abilities did not contribute to the strengthening of Christ’s church and the progression of His kingdom, then they were simply talents that never became fully maximized as spiritual gifts.

For example, if you are gifted in the area of teaching, then as a way of maximizing that gift, you are to discover how you can use your gift not only within the church but also in the culture, perhaps by teaching in a public school in order to bring Christ’s light into a darkened place. Your spiritual gift ought to impact both the body of Christ and the world at large.

Paul references this dual purpose of our spiritual gifts—to strengthen the church as well as increase its impact on society.

He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Spiritual gifts are designed to empower the church, and the church’s job is to spread the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Specifically, verse 12 tells us that the gifts are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service.” I know of no other way to interpret that statement than to say that we—the saints—have a job to do. That job is to build up the body of Christ so that the body of Christ can spread the kingdom in society.