As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ~ 1 Peter 4:10

“As every man hath received the gift”

The Greek word used for gift is “charisma” and it is used to mean a gift from The Holy Spirit, e.g., 1 Corinthians 12.  But, this special kind of gift is not used independently of the Holy Spirit.  The gifts we get from friends and family are typically ours alone. And we mostly don’t need the giver to be around when we use our gift.  

The charisma is different.  The Holy Spirit not only gives us the gift, The Holy Spirit must be engaged for us to use the gift.   To understand this better, consider Jesus, in John 15.  In that chapter Jesus identifies Himself as the vine and His disciples as the branches.  And He tells us that we must abide in Him, for without Him we can do nothing that is good. 

Likewise, the Holy Spirit has given us gifts, but the Holy Spirit is also the gift. Without the agency of The Holy Spirit, our gifts can’t achieve anything good. To be clear, to abide in Jesus is to minister the gift, your gifts, to your fellow believers.

Nevertheless, the point the verse leaves with us, the takeaway, is that each and every Christian has been given a gift by the Holy Spirit. And The Holy Spirit is available to each and every Christian so that the gift can be used properly: to glorify God and minister to others.

“Minister!”

However, as important as those truths/doctrines are for us to grasp, in a sense, the verse has already left us behind.  The verse declares the fact that every Christian receives the charisma, but that’s the premise, not the emphasis.  The focus is not the gift, but that we need to do something with it.  Specifically, we need to use the gift to minister to each other.

In other books of The Bible, some space is given to explain what the gifts are and how they are to work in the church.  But here, in our text, no time is spent on that.  There is an urgency in the verse.  You have what you need to minister to each other.  

You have the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit has equipped you.  the Holy Spirit is ready to move.  Let’s go!

Too many believers spend their whole lives figuring out their gift.  Debating, pondering, considering, but never actually employing their gift/s in ministry to the brethren/church.  

What this verse is telling us is that we have all that we need.  We have The Holy Spirit. And The Holy Spirit knows what gift we received. And The Holy Spirit knows how to use it.  All we need to do is go!  We only need to be available and obedient.  God has already taken care of the rest.  

God turned Jonah around when he was trying, determined, to go the wrong way.  Why do you think God won’t be able to steer you in the right way when you submit to Him?

The problem, the question, is never what is my gift?  The question is are you ready to serve?  In the book of Acts we learn of Philip who was a Spirit filled man and a great preacher.  It was him that God sent to preach to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8).   Philip started out as a deacon (Acts 6:5)!   Philip’s job/ministry was to make sure the food rations were shared evenly between all the church members who had needs (Acts 6:1-4).

Philip was wise, trustworthy, honest, upright, and, most of all, available.  Available to God.   He was ready to go!  And, though he started out as a deacon, God led him further afield.  God expanded his duties and God expanded him.  

“Good Stewards”

The verse closes with a sobering thought.   Our Lord expects us to be good stewards of what he has entrusted us with.  He has given each and every one of His children a gift.  In the end, we must report to Him what we have done with the gift he entrusted to us.  

What have you done with your gift?

Have you put your gift to work and have seen it multiply like Philip did.  Or is your gift still hidden and unused?  

What have you done with your gift?

The Holy Spirit has been ready to go from the start.  If you haven’t started out, what have you been waiting on?

What have you done with your gift?

Life is irreversible.  If we have delayed, if we have been resistant, scared, or disobedient, we can’t go back and recover those days, months, years.

But we can respond in the affirmative to the Holy Spirit now, we start now, right this minute.  

We can’t change the past, but we can change the future by obeying God’s call in the present.  We can say “Here I am, I will go, send me” (Isaiah 6:8)

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I; send me.”

Isaiah 6:8