Have you ever asked these questions:

"What is the will of God in my life? What does God want me to do

with my life? What is the purpose of my life? How does God want me to

use my life?"

These are great questions and

deserve some special attention and contemplation concerning the subject

of our "spiritual gifts". Here are some questions that our eighth

grade confirmation class answered and discussed about spiritual gifts

last week.

1. What are spiritual gifts?

They are any God-given talents or personal qualities that are used for

building up the church in faith and love, and for serving and caring for

the world.

2. Which Christians have spiritual

gifts? All Christians (This is important to understand!)

3. What are some examples of

spiritual gifts? Serving, teaching, encouraging, sharing, leading, organizing,

building, repairing, being kind, preaching, witnessing, singing, using

computer technology, listening, helping others, cooking, maintaining equipment,

outgoing personality/making others feel welcomed, capable of contemplation,

financial skills/money management, working with children, working with

youth, working with older adults, working with handicapped people, praying

for and with others, helping people who are in crisis, giving and stewardship,

just to name a FEW!

4. What is the greatest spiritual

gift? Love. I Corinthians 13:13 says, "So faith, hope, love abide;

these three. But the greatest of these is love."

5. What are two ways that spiritual

gifts are to be used? a: To build up the church in love; b: To serve and

care for the world.

6. I Corinthians 12:7 and 11

says, "The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to each person, as the

Spirit wishes, for the good of all."

What are five spiritual gifts

that God has given YOU? List 5:

1. ____________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________

Now, what do we do?

F First, we need to NAME our

gifts, discover our gifts, and identify the gifts that God has given to

us.

F Second, we need to CLAIM

our gifts, accept our gifts, take hold and embrace the unique gifts that

God has given to us! Rather than being irritated at God that He didn't

give us the set of gifts that we want, God wants us to embrace, enjoy

and USE the gifts that He has given to us.

F Third, we need to surrender

these gifts to God and let Him REIGN over our gifts. "These belong

to you, Lord. Use them. Take them. These gifts are Yours, Lord. Do with

them what YOU want. Accomplish what you want, Lord, with the gifts you

have given me!"

This whole process is part

of maturing, growing up, and finding ourselves as "disciples"

of Jesus Christ - at whatever age we are! One of the most wonderful parts

of living is the gradual unfolding and discovering of our own God-given

spiritual gifts, then using them to "build up the church in love

and serve and care for the world."

This is how we go about finding

God's will for our lives. To our question, "What is the will of God

for my life?", the answer is like one of those mind riddles, which

seems so complicated at first, but when we finally discover the solution,

we say, "Oh, the answer is so obvious! Why didn't I see it sooner?"

When we discover our spiritual

gifts, we discover God's will for our lives!

Kollmeyer is senior pastor

of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fayetteville. He may be reached

at 770-461-3403 or [email protected].