There is no doubt that the Body of Christ is filled with so many talented and gifted believers whom God has called to fulfill specific roles, but nowadays we see headlines of pastors, evangelists, prophets and many other powerful men and women failing in ministry. Some have burnt out, others have fallen morally and then there are those who are the catalyst of a major church split.
This begs us to ask the question: "If these spiritually gifted men and women are equipped with so much spiritual gifts, why are their ministries falling apart? Is it because God's power is not all that perfect after all?"
Let me be the one to nip this in the bud and say, no, it doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't powerful enough.
However, there is a point where imperfect and flawed sinners who work for the glory of Christ fail at powerfully moving in prophecy, healing, evangelism, leadership and any other spiritual gift when they miss out the most important factor of spiritual gift and ministry. That factor is love.
There is an instance in the Bible where Paul talks about failures in exercising spiritual gifts. It's found in 1 Corinthians 13:1-2, which tells us "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."
By God's grace, each believer is entrusted by God with a gift or set of gifts for them to do two things: Glorify and exalt God because of His love and proclaim the love of Christ to others. When moving in prophecy, tongues, healing or any other spiritual gift becomes too much about power, achievement, reputation, human expectation and even the love of anything other than God and His people, our gifts could very well be our downfall.
But when we make it about the everlasting and unfailing love of Jesus Christ and the glory of the Father that enables to do every good work and to be a blessing not just to ourselves but to people around us, we maximise the spiritual gifts God has rewarded us.
Of all these things, three remain- faith, hope and love- but the greatest of these is love. What are your spiritual gifts? Have you come to the realisation that it is only through Christ's love that we receive them? How can you use your gifts to extend love to others?
