What are your Spiritual Gifts?

The definition is one thing, but when people toss it around like an insult it is entirely different. I’m sorry if I was defensive myself, I’ve been getting a lot of comments like it lately, even though I have done very little on this site for a while, and had to delete a few from my home page.

As for having a difference between talents and spiritual gifts. A talant can be a spiritual gift… Kinda. Basically a spiritual gift is a God given gift, usually after you have become a believer that shows itself to you or to those around you. Many times it is not a talent the person originally had. Like mine being evangelizing… I’m petrified of meeting new people. I somehow do it, but not because of anything I can explain. My legs shake, and I find it hard to breathe, until I start saying what He wants said.

I really don’t know how to better explain it, but I posted a place where you can get some answers.

I wasn’t arguing, I was asking a serious question. What is the difference between an individuals talents, and spiritual gifts? I was not starting an argument. I was told I was being rude for simply asking a question. My next response may have been a little defensive, but I didn’t deserve to be called rude either.

As far as being a zealot; would you say that you are ardently active, devoted, and diligent in your religious beliefs?

A zealot is someone who shows zelous behavior towards something. The definition of zeaouls is:

full of, characterized by, or due to zeal; ardently active, devoted, or diligent.

Does that not describe a religious persons feelings toward their religion?

I would like to think that mine is the gift of communication, I can get through to people generally where others can’t.

Could you please stop already? I have asked as nicely as I could for you to let this be a discussion among people who believe in it. If you do not please stop posting in this thread.

I would say it is you who don’t get it. Implying supernatural forces are behind a persons talents is unprovable, and unknowable. It is only blind, obedient belief, without a single thought that it just might be the person is talented and nothing more.

Since I am an athiest, I would say your husband had a mental block about playing in front of people that he was able to overcome. How do you know it came from some supernatural force?

I did not “toss it around like an insult”. I use the term because it fits. Most of the religious types on here are zealots by the very definition of the word.

I really don’t need anymore answers. I just didn’t get the difference between talent and gifts. Still don’t completely.

What exactly did I say that was rude?

Trust me, my eyes are wide open. And I see the realities in our world. Not the made up spiritual world religious zealots want us to believe exists.

jimahl…what the heck? that was really rude. there are many spiritual giflts. you just have to open your eyes wide enough to see them.

I took a test on Christianet.com, on spiritual gifts, which was very interesting. It came out like this:

Faith 100%

Teacher 87%

Prophet 78%

My husband didn’t take the test, but, he is gifted in helps ministry, he is also a giver.

Why is being good at relating to people a spiritual gift? Isn’t it just a talent? I can play guitar, is that a spiritual gift too?

If you need help discovering what spiritual gifts mean, what they are, and how to find out what yours is go here:

http://www.freewebs.com/moreworkintheword/spiritualgifts.htm

I understand you believe that, but that is all it is, a belief. There is no imperical evidence that this talent has some supernatural origin. The way you describe it, it seem all human talents are the result of some unkowable diety.

I am really good with computers, always have been. I’ll be damned if I give credit to anyone or anything else other than myself. You basically say that we are talentless without some intervention by a god. I actually think that is sad that people think this way. It is degrading.

Well, believing in and knowing God, we just tend to include Him high up amongst the things which can overcome a mental block. I agree that’s what my husband had, I just believe that God was involved in clearing it, and that it’s no coincidence that it was cleared for God’s work, rather than for any of his other interests (he’s still never played in a concert, for example).

Another thing which helps clear the slightly hazy boundary between talents and gifts is that your talents are always basically the same - I’m a teacher and I love teaching and working with kids. But over time I feel that God has given me gifts to use those kinds of skills in different ways, which weren’t always obvious - for a while I worked with teenagers instead of children, then I volunteered as press officer for a charity (a bit different, that one!) and only recently have I started actually working with children in church.

So God gave me the basic talent of teaching but brings it out in different ways at different times, as are needed. You can obviously say that this is just me using my natural talents, but given that I have this relationship with God (not exclusive you understand, just what any Christian has), I see how He is involved in making this natural process work more effectively to help other people.

I think that talents are things you’re born with, and spiritual gifts, even though they may be latent in you, are often only discovered as a gift from God to use for Him in some way. For example, my husband always had the talent of playing the piano, but he was way too shy to play it in church or in a group or anything. I heard him try when we were in our twenties and it was agony - he messed everything up. But sudenly, about 10 years later, we were in a different church and he had this idea of forming a music group and suddenly he could play for it! To me that was an example of a spiritual gift - he already had the talent but God gave him the gift of being able to use it for worship.

I don’t think it’s always possible to work out the difference between the two, jimahl, but I hope that explains a bit.

The New York Mets!!!

After all they are the “Miracle” Mets…

Mine probably aren’t on that list:

~Logic ~Critical thinking ~Cupcake eating

Communication Make things peaceful Read non-verbal communication very well Teaching kids Catholicism Speak in tongues

communication

Jimahl, this is for those who do believe in spiritual gifts and appreciate them. Please do not begin any arguments. We are not religious zealots, we are normal everyday people, living normal everyday lives. I would appreciate it if you didn’t start playing the name game in this post. It is supposed to be spiritually enlightening!

I think the topic of spiritual gifts is interesting..first of all, the reason why we are given them is amazing. they aren’t so much for us ourselves as they are for the betterment of those around us.

I know one of mine is that I can relate to people easily, that I am able to teach people in a way that they understand.