How can a correct philosophy regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit affect one’s practice of hospitality?
Secondly, each Christian has at least one gift of the Holy Spirit, and most have many. This is obvious from the Scripture. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit…” (I Cor. 12:7); “All these ate inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (vs. 11); “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another” (I Pet. 4: 10).
The temptation for many is to protest, “But…but, I don’t have any abilities.” This attitude is unscriptural. It may be a true statement of our feelings, but it is one case where our intellect must overrule. We may feel unable to contribute, but we must train our intelligence to accept those verses which teach that each Christian has been given gifts to be used within the church. Then it becomes a matter of asking in prayer that our Father will assist us in discovering and using our gifts.
Most Christians have more than one gift, and as they develop their talents, proving themselves trustworthy, their Master often gives more in quantity and enables them to achieve higher quality. The familiar parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 reiterates this theme. The Master goes on a long journey, assigning his property to the care of three servants. To one he gives five talents (one talent is roughly equal to one thousand dollars), to one he gives two talents, and to the last he gives one.
The first two stewards double their portions, while the last hides his in the ground. Upon returning, the Master is angered at this servant’s lack of discretion and chides him for not at least collecting interest from a bank. He then gives the one talent to the one who has proved himself most worthy. This is the way of spiritual gifts. Entrusted with the property of our Lord, we are expected to develop it in His interests. To those who are most faithful, He often gives more.
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For decades, Karen Mains and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. The are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and churches at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.
Karen has long had an interest in Christian hospitality and is the author of the best-selling book, Open Heart, Open Home.
An award-winning author of several other books, Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.
Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.
In addition, pastors will find special resources to help them create effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.