THE KNACK
As most of you probably know, I like computers. When we were in South Dakota, our Director of Missions was always calling me for help with computer things. He would sometimes get a new program and install it on the office computer, and then, he couldn’t figure out how to use it. So, he’d call me for help. I’d go to the office, sit down at the computer, and run the program. It would be a program that I’d never seen before. I’d ask him, "What do you want to do first?" He’d tell me, and I’d start clicking certain places and find what it was he wanted to do, and figure out the steps he had to take to get done what he wanted to do. It’s like I’ve got a knack for some of that. I’m not ready to call that a spiritual gift, but God has given that ability to me, and I can help when people have some computer questions.
So, an easy way to explain spiritual gifts is that they’re kind of like us having a knack for doing something, but it’s a God-given and Spirit-empowered ability that God wants us to use to minister to others in the church, and to advance His kingdom.