Spiritual Gift Survey

Spiritual gift surveys are not inspired by God; they are just tools to help you see how God may be gifting you. You do not have to identify with 100% of a category in order to have that spiritual gift. If you can see that God has placed a majority of one in you, than it is possible that those you don't see are areas where you need to grow more as you walk in the Spirit. Of course, the fleshly statements don't need to be improved on, just surrendered to the Spirit. Always approach the results of any survey with prayer and seek truth from the Spirit. Ask others to confirm what they see in your life.

Here is a survey with a little flesh slipped in to help keep you honest.
Do any of these groupings describe you better than the other?

1.
 I like to get things done by organizing or delegating.
 I’m good at delegating.
 I need to know the purpose for what I’m doing.
 I get very frustrated when a leader is not organized.
 I think that careful planning is the answer to making things go smoothly.
 It really bothers me when plans get changed.
 I love to take charge of a project.
 I don’t find other people’s suggestions to be very helpful.
 I forget to ask God for help, especially since I have a good idea of what I need to do.

2.
 I frequently question others’ motivation.
 I help others identify the root of their spiritual problem.
 I feel very strongly about the things that are right.
 I am very troubled when I see others doing the wrong thing.
 I want everyone around me to see the truth.
 I seem to spot  phony or manipulative people.
 I feel like something is burning inside me when I see injustice.
 I often find myself judging others.
 I see good and evil as clearly as black and white.
 I am usually hesitant about restoring a repentant sinner; I want to see evidence of change first.
 I feel like a negative person.
 I believe that sometimes people just need a swift “kick in the pants”.
 I tend to see “red flags” when discussing plans or situations.

3.
 I love to talk about Jesus to unbelievers.
 I get animated when I’m sharing the Gospel.
 It comes very easily for me to tell someone how to be saved.
 When I share about Jesus, people often trust in Christ.
 I’m always telling my Christian friends that people are lost and need salvation.
 I like to think about how many people I have led to Christ.
 I’m always burdened to pray for someone who is lost.
 I can sense when someone I meet needs to be saved.
 I am critical of Christians who are not talking to unbelievers about Jesus everyday.
 I make friends easily with unbelievers.

4.
 People tell me I really encourage them to follow Christ.
 I love to help others make practical application of specific Scriptures to their lives.
 I often help others get God’s perspective through difficult trials and suffering.
 I really care about the spiritual growth in the lives of others.
 I really want to help those who want help.
 I believe people will grow through counsel & the Word of God.
 I am sensitive to suffering, troubled & discouraged people.
 I like to find the practical application of a message or Bible passage.
 I think people will respond to the truth if it is given to them in an understanding and gentle way.
 I like to encourage others to take practical steps.
 I want to help others find the solution to their problems quickly.
 I am frustrated when people aren't changing fast enough.

5.
 I really believe that God will do the supernatural.
 I seem to be more confident than those around me that God can change impossible situations.
 I’m not discouraged by enormous difficulties or obstacles.
 I act on faith when other’s say I’m being irresponsible.
 I’m impatient with believers who doubt God.
 I don’t listen to people who tell me it can’t be done, I trust God anyway.
 I am often frustrated at other’s lack of faith.

6.
 I will do without so that I can give more to the Lord’s work.
 When I hear there is a financial need, I feel great urgency to help out.
 I really enjoy working at being a wise consumer and a good steward.
 I usually want to give more than I am able; I don’t know how much is enough.
 I want to give to everyone who has a need.
 I always seem to have enough money even though I never worry about it.
 I like to find out how I can support a cause or a missionary.
 I seldom forget to take an offering to church.
 I love to give away my things.
 I like it when people recognize how unselfish I am with my possessions.
 I seem to give people money just when they need it.
 I can sometimes pressure others to give.
 I hope someday I can give 30% of my income.

7.
 People often ask me for help or favors and I enjoy doing them.
 I do not mind giving time and effort in order to help another out.
 I enjoy doing physical jobs, even if they are boring or dirty.
 Sometimes I get involved in helping out too much for too many people.
 It is hard for me to not respond to a request for help.
 The first thing I notice when I walk in a room is what needs to be done.
 More often I find myself helping without being asked or told what to do.
 I’ll find a way to meet a need even if someone in authority discourages me from doing it.
 I am usually helping others rather than taking care of my own responsibilities.
 I sometimes resent that others are not helping me.
 I want people to notice that I am always serving at Church.
 I like to be the first to meet a need.
 I feel good about myself when I am helping others.

8.
 I like being in charge and at times find myself thinking of how to do something better than the leader.
 People seem to like following my directions and plans.
 Sometimes I fear being too authoritative or “bossy”.
 Maybe I like projects and programs more than people.
 I love motivating people towards a goal.
 I often have a vision of how things could go better.
 I like being put in a place of position or authority.
 It frustrates me to have to follow.
 It is easy for me to run ahead of God and forget to let Him lead.
 I get enthusiastic about inspiring others in a ministry.
 I see people as useful to accomplish my goals.

9.
 I am very sensitive to how people feel and can notice right away if someone is upset, discouraged, or burdened.
 It is very hard to be firm and direct with people; I usually feel sorry for them.
 I am often guided more by emotions than logic in responding to other’s needs.
 Sometimes my understanding heart has been misunderstood by the opposite sex.
 I would never think of reprimanding someone who is in pain.
 I enjoy working with suffering people.
 I tend to see only good motives in people.
 I withdraw from insensitive people.
 I am patient with sick people.
 My feelings of pity get in the way of giving good advice.

10.
 I feel the burden for a wandering Christian.
 I feel responsible for the spiritual lives of others and will give my time to help them.
 I love being with and ministering to people.
 I can tell when someone needs counseling and will make myself available.
 I would much rather do a task with people than by myself.
 My day is often filled with giving guidance to others.
 It is difficult for me to make a decision until I have heard from everyone.
 I like it when others need me or depend on me.
 I am very protective of others in danger of being deceived.
 I want to make sure that those close to me don’t make bad decisions.

11.
 When I hear error or see it in another’s life, I find it very difficult to keep quiet.
 I am direct and persuasive in what I say.
 I hold others to a high standard.
 Self-righteousness, sin, worldly behavior, etc. really bother me, and when I see these in a person, I want to correct it.
 I like to communicate biblical truth.
 I’m frustrated at Christians who don’t obey Scripture.
 I think the Bible makes it very obvious what actions we need to take in order to change.
 I speak my mind very bluntly.
 I tend to see how something can go wrong before it is even started..
 When telling people what to do, I have to be careful not to go beyond Scripture.
 More Christians would change if we would just speak more directly to them about their sin.

12.
 Accuracy of facts is really important as I study.
 I like to answer Bible questions and explain confusing passages to others.
 Sometimes people may think my explanations are too long.
 It gives me a sense of pride to know things.
 I place importance on what people know.
 I get excited about studying.
 I really enjoy researching a passage, digging into it and taking it apart.
 Sometimes I appear to have all the answers.
 I can give out too much information, too quickly, for others to absorb.
 I love to explain a Bible passage.
 People seem to understand when I explain things.

The corresponding gift with an explanation of what it looks like and some suggestions for improving.

1. ADMINISTRATION
God has given you the ability to organize, make plans, and manage things. You are good with the details, like things to go smoothly and feel frustrated with disorder and inefficiency. The church needs administrators to help the visionaries bring their ideas into fruition. God has placed many administrators in the church; He is a God of order.

You can be developing skills at delegating rather than doing it all yourself.

2. DISCERNMENT
God has given you the ability to distinguish what is good or evil, true or lies. He has equipped you with an instinctive sense about motives and intentions, about deception or inconsistency to Biblical truth, to such an extent that you may feel like a negative person. But beware, you can just as easily find yourself judging others if you are walking in the flesh.

You should be making prayer as natural as breathing, because that is the very first thing you should do when God gives you discernment. Also, develop a more merciful and humorous side to balance the judgmental negativity that comes with this gift.

3. EVANGELISM
God has given you the ability to share the Gospel in a way that people respond in belief. He has given you a special burden to see people saved, a unique awareness of when an unbeliever needs to here the Good News, a gift for sharing the Gospel clearly and for answering arguments against Christianity. You tend to make friendships outside the Christian community and may even find it frustrating to be around Christians all the time.

Since the majority of Christians score 0% in this gift, if you answered yes to at least four of the related statements, might I encourage you to develop evangelism more. Learn how to be clear in sharing the Gospel. Study the arguments against Christianity and learn creative ways to respond. Be patient with the rest of us who score 0. We know that we should evangelize, so rather than criticize or guilt trip us, organize and motivate us.

4. EXHORTATION (ENCOURAGEMENT)
God has given you the ability to come alongside people who need encouragement or exhortation in order to stay firm in their faith. You are sensitive to the emotional state of others and are drawn to help the person who is struggling. You prefer to work with the other person on a one to one basis, but find yourself getting somewhat frustrated if they are slow to change.

Since you are drawn to individuals, work on loving others and on building unity in the church.  Avoid the trap of thinking you are the only one who can help the person in need, and of making your ministry to the individual more important than to the church body as a whole.

5. FAITH
God has given you the ability to know with confidence when He is acting on something, and the certainty that He will do what He says. You see God's powerful activity in the lives of others and believe in the power of prayer. You don't question that God is faithful to what He says, even when others lose faith and doubt. Obstacles do not intimidate you. You easily lose patience with people who continually doubt God.

Since you know that prayer is powerful, Pray more!

6. GIVING
God has given you the desire and the ability to give of what He has given you. He may also have given you the ability to make money, or you find that He is always providing you with an abundance. You are, in a way, God's money launderer. You frequently see needs before others do, and would rather give more of what you have than keep it. This gift requires lots of prayer in order to know which needs to which God would have you give.

Learn how to manage money better. Begin developing this gift with consistent and regular giving to your church. Develop a habit of praying about giving, becoming more and more sensitive to the Spirit's leading, always seeking the Lord's mind about it first.

7. HELPS
God has given you a drive to serve, as well as the ability. All Christians should serve one another, but you are especially gifted to see the need. You enjoy working behind the scenes, feel satisfaction in doing difficult jobs, often seeing things to do without being asked. You are content knowing that your labor improves the quality of ministry of others.

Keep yourself physically healthy so that you can serve. Be cheerful in labor, not complaining when others aren't helping you. Learn how to ask for help.

8. LEADERSHIP
God has given you the ability to motivate and lead people. You see the vision for the group before others and take the responsibility to inspire action. You usually step in when direction is lacking, and lead by example. You enjoy building a team of people who can carry out your vision.

Develop a servant-leader's heart, following Christ's example. Avoid seeing people as tools for your vision. Learn submission and humility.

9. MERCY
God has made you especially sensitive to the feelings of others. You reach out to those who are suffering and hurting with love and understanding. You are compassion in action; you are God's love in person. You cannot help but see and think of ways to ease people in pain. Because you are so warm and caring, people tend to respond to you in the same way, except for those who have the gift of discernment.

Learn to bring your emotions under the Spirit's control. Rather than avoid them because of their harshness, you need to learn to work well with those who have the gifts of discernment or prophecy. Your compassion and their discernment balance each other.

10. PASTOR- (SHEPHERDING)
God has equipped you to care for and protect people. Much like the gift of encouragement, you have a burden for their spiritual growth, but you see people in a group more than one on one. You desire to build relationships with those in the group, nurturing them and helping them to grow spiritually, and are not discouraged by the thought of investing in these people over a long period of time. You are concerned for the spiritual welfare of each, and believe that the group provides safety.

You should be seeking to serve in group settings, and developing skills in spiritual warfare so that you will be better able to defend yourself and the group. Strengthen your knowledge of the Bible, your habit of prayer, avoid sin and lies, and know how to share the Gospel.

11. PROPHECY
God has given you the ability to proclaim His word, to speak His truth and to warn against the outcome of failing to believe that truth. You believe that God's word tells others how they should change the way they are living, and have a burden to speak it to others, holding yourself to the same standard. You cannot overlook sin in the lives of others, speaking truth in order to bring them to repentance. You are often just as harsh and blunt to yourself as others accuse you of being to them.

You should be reading and meditating on God's word everyday, in order to be sure that you are speaking God's truth and not your own.

12. TEACHING
God has given you not only a love for the Bible, but an ability to study it, understand it, and to make it relevant in the lives of others. You truly enjoy studying the Bible, getting excited about breaking down a passage and observing the details. It thrills you to communicate the Bible to an audience and see them understand it. You love sharing the things you have learned.

You should be diligent to set aside a time everyday, not just for reading the Bible, but to take a passage and study it, take it apart, meditate on it, digest it and apply it. Your long term goal is to know what the whole Bible says. If you aren't teaching anyone, start by volunteering to teach children.

Flesh and the Five P's

Should you know your spiritual gift(s)?
I believe you should and here are three reasons why:
Stewardship
"As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 pet 4:10)
You can't be a very good steward of what you don't know you have.
Purpose
To help you live according to the purpose for which God has made you, to determine priorities and even the will of God.
Contentment
You'll stop comparing yourself to others, stop feeling inadequate, stop wishing you were like someone else, freeing you to function better with the strength that God supplies.

There are many spiritual gift surveys online, you've probably taken at least one in your life.
I personally never found them to be very helpful. Admittedly, that was probably because I tried to work them to fit what I wanted to be instead of what I really was. The speaker, at the conference I mentioned earlier, introduced me to the idea that our spiritual gifts manifest themselves differently if we are walking in the flesh. I got a good picture of that uglier side of things and suddenly, like an instagram picture, my spiritual gifts became very clear to me. It all made sense to me now. Flesh and the five P's: performance, perfectionism, popularity, praise and pride, were dominating my Christian life and I had not been taking that into account. Now, by recognizing the ways flesh distorts my spiritual gifts, I have a better vision of where I need to crucify the flesh, and of where I need to surrender to the Spirit's control.

You may identify with a few characteristics of several gifts, but look specifically at the ones where the majority are true of you. These are traits that you find to be true more than 75% of the time. Avoid going with the traits you wish you had. Recognize that any traits above that you find in yourself, reflect the Spirit's power, not your worth. You may find a little bit of genetics come into play through your God given personality, and you may even find traces of your parents' gifts. Remember, however, these are not fleshly abilities, but divine gifts empowered by the Spirit.

In an attempt to help debunk the five P's, I searched for a spiritual gift survey that included statements on the flesh. In the end, I had to create my own. Over the past few years, and having sat down with many people to talk about the results of this survey, a few things have stood out to me. I've noticed that, though each person has a variety of gifts, differing from one to another, the combination itself is divinely grouped to create a mix uniquely equipping each person. I've seen how God has so uniquely combined gifts that the combination itself takes on a different "personality" you might say. I've been amazed at our Lord's sovereign creativity. Understanding your unique combination, frees you to serve God the way He intends for you to, in His design created to cause the mature growth of the church, into the stature of Christ.
It is truly a beautiful thing!

I have also noticed that some gifts are more prevalent than others. For example, manifestations of the gift of exhortation/encouragement appear in almost 3 out of 4 people, while manifestations of the gift of evangelism appear in as low as one out of ten. What does that tell me? Obviously, that those with the gift are not meant to be doing all the evangelizing. Since we should all evangelize, I believe that we need those with the gift of evangelism to play a role of motivator within the church rather than bearing the burden all by themselves. A similar thing could be said of the gift of giving, which also has a low ratio. I don't have the gift of mercy, but I know ladies in my church who do. These ladies have young children and it isn't always practical for them to act on the need they see, so they call me. I won't ever think of it, but I'm happy to go sit with someone in the hospital if someone with the gift of mercy tells me to. The parts of the body need to work together as a whole, and we do that by working our gifts together. If you have the gift of leadership, but lack administration, then don't just build your team with your friends in the church, with those people you like and get along with, build your team specifically with those who have the gifts that are needed.

When the Lord showed me that He had given me the gift of discernment, I wondered how I was to use it. For many weeks I would ask Him to show me. You see, where the person with the gift of helps can easily see what to do, the one who discerns can't just freely offer that to the other person whenever he wants to. Most people don't welcome such exercising of a gift uninvited.

Here is what I have come to see as the most important way for me to exercise the gift of discernment; I must pray. When the Spirit shows me that "red flag", I must pray. I must always pray, because this is the only way to know the mind of God, and since this is His gift that He chooses to use as He pleases, I must pray! And here is the really crazy part of it, the Lord convinced me that the best way for me to pray about the discernment He gives is to pray that I am wrong. Do you know how hard that is to do!

In a real practical sense, no spiritual gift should be practiced without praying.

Four Points on Spiritual Gifts

Here are the four passages on spiritual gifts, followed by four points that deny fleshly participation.


"For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."
Romans 12:3-8

"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills." (vs.28), “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.”
1 Corinthians 12:1-11

"But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men." (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
Ephesians 4:7-16

"The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
1 Peter 4:7-11

Point Number One.
Stay humble.
There is no pride to be gained by your spiritual gift.

Point Number Two. 
Let the Spirit drive.
You should always be in the passenger seat in this arrangement.

Point Number Three. 
No amputee parts.
Your spiritual gift is not meant for your own edification, it joins you to the body in order to "cause the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love"

Point Number Four.
Not for the self-centered.
You can't be selfish and be exercising your spiritual gift in the Spirit at the same time.

Often when I say that all fleshly effort has to be abandoned in order to walk in the Spirit, it results in the misconception that abandoning fleshly effort leads to sitting back and doing nothing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Walking in the Spirit doesn't mean doing nothing, it just means that the "why" of what you do gets a radical overhaul. It means that you will stop exercising your spiritual gifts
in your own strength,
for selfish reasons,
for personal gain,
for your own edification,
for the boosting of your pride,
for being seen by others,
for acknowledgement,
for praise,
for position,
for your own good,
your own satisfaction,
your own righteousness.
Instead, you'll be exercising your gifts
in God's strength,
to serve others,
to cause others to grow,
for another's honor,
by God's grace,
with diligence,
cheerfully,
for the common good,
in love,
to equip another for service,
to see maturity in another,
as a good steward,
that God may be glorified.

A Spiritual Nose Job?

"I'm sick of hearing about spiritual gifts."
"The whole spiritual gift thing frustrates me."
"Spiritual gifts are just one more thing in my Christian life where I can fail."

These comments used to be how I thought or felt about spiritual gifts.
"Discover your spiritual gift," I would hear, but it seemed like an impossible task.
What was my problem? Why was my attitude towards spiritual gifts so bad?

I perceived almost everything in the Christian life as a demand to perform and to perform perfectly. I wanted to be popular and was constantly comparing myself to others. I wanted to be affirmed by public acknowledgement and praise, pursuing even ministries for that purpose.
Frustrated and discouraged, I finally settled on the conclusion that it just wasn't necessary to know your spiritual gift. I only needed to keep serving, doing what needed to be done, and God would "exercise" my gift through me, and knowing what the gift or gifts were wouldn't change that. Besides, where in the Bible does it say that we have to know what our gift is?

So there, on "the shelf", sat my closed book of spiritual gifts, which I hadn't touched for years because I no longer considered the subject of any use for my spiritual growth. Then I was given, from my commending church, a surprise invitation to a women's conference in Dallas. God had been behind the scenes of this surprise,  orchestrating it like a well planned con game and I was the mark, only the benefit in this case, was mine. Having seen His hand in it all, I flew to Dallas wondering what special message God had for me, confident that He had something for me to learn that would revolutionize my life and help me overcome the depression I was battling with at the time. When I arrived and heard the topic, my heart sank into disappointment and confusion, because it was, you guessed it, spiritual gifts. I really wondered if God had "messed up" somehow, not understood what I needed. I was certain He wanted me there, so why would He have arranged this topic? Did He somehow get the scheduling mixed up? "How could this be helpful," I thought, certain that it was a mistake.

From the very first session, along with a good dose of humility, I knew I was getting exactly what God wanted me to learn. He had brought me there to know my spiritual gift, of this I am certain, and in doing so, changed my life completely.

Remember how awkward it was to grow up during the teen years, how self-conscious you were about everything that stuck out, how much you hated those things that kept you from fitting in. Some of us made it into the cool kid group, while others of us were excluded, pushed out to the fringes, taunted and laughed at by the "in crowd."
We enter and move through puberty hating almost everything about ourselves, angry at the genetic curse that gave us those ears or that nose, that gave us low metabolism or stringy hair, or really bad acne. Our gene pool was out of our control; our design was not by choice.

In the same way, my flesh was not content with the divine genetics that didn't give me the spiritual gifts I wanted in order to make me fit in, to be more accepted, more liked, admired or praised.

Just as I needed to learn to be content with God's sovereign wisdom in who I am and where I come from, I also needed to learn to be content with God's sovereign wisdom in who I am as His child and for what purpose He has placed me in His family.

People who get extreme makeovers on television often comment that now "the real me can be seen," as if what was visible before was hiding who they believed themselves to truly be. We can often approach spiritual gift surveys like a shopping list for plastic surgery, picking the way we wish to be perceived, trying to become the person we believe we are inside. "The real me is not like that," we tell ourselves when our ugly exterior of the flesh results in rejection.

Through discovering my spiritual gifts, the Lord helped me have better clarity about my flesh, helped me come to accept how He had made me, gave me a new focus of His purpose for my life, and brought me into a refreshing total dependence on the Spirit that I had never experienced before.
Spiritual gifts are practical. They are about the body of Christ, about unity and bonding, about growing, about needing each other as well as being completely needy on the Spirit to guide.

As your physical body is one body with many parts, so is the body of Christ, not one part, but many. So "if the foot should say, 'because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, and "if the ear should say, 'because I am not an eye,'" that also does not make it any less a part of the body. What would happen to the body if the whole thing was an eye? (1 Corinthians 12:15-16)

Now that is an interesting question. Think about it. Is there any part of the body that we don't need? The appendix maybe?

I'll ask you to be honest with yourself, do you ever think this way? Do you ever think that because you don't have that spiritual gift like someone else has, you are less important in the church? Do you ever feel that you are not needed in the body, or have anything to contribute? Should you be thinking that way? Who is responsible for that kind of attitude? Are you sitting there longing for a spiritual makeover so that people can see the real you?

Paul says, "The eye cannot say to the hand (and this is really important, because you cannot say or even think this about your brother or sister in Christ!),
'I have no need of you'."
Here is the truth:
"the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." 1 Corinthians 12:22-27
English Standard Version

Do you know what surprises me about this? Disparity exists among the many parts; some people in the church are going to have more honor than me. My premise has always been that unity in the body is achieved by having us all look equal in presentation, and therefore equal in honor. There should not seem to be, on the surface, that one lacks honor compared to another. That has always been my mindset, and yet, God isn't going to balance the scales. He chooses for us to learn to walk in the Spirit by reversal, by doing the opposite of what our flesh desires. Our flesh reacts to such inequality with jealousy, division and rivalry. Lamenting and moping about my lack of honor is not the way to unity; showing preference to those who have the greater gifts is not the way God sees the body. Unity is the job of each of us, whether that job is to change the way I see others, or to change the way I view myself.

Walking in the Spirit with gifts is not about me changing my nose so that it looks more like someone else's or doesn't protrude so much, it's about me being the nose and functioning as the nose for the good of Christ's body, the church.

The Critical Element of Love

As I have reviewed and meditated on the four areas of the Spirit's indispensable role in our lives, on truth, love, gifts and prayer, I am surprised to find how they are so interconnected. So before we move to spiritual gifts, I want to make their connection to love.
If you were to go to the four passages in the Bible where we can read about spiritual gifts, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, Romans 12, and 1 Corinthians 12, you would find something said about love.

Ephesians
"But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." (verses 15-16)

1 Peter
"Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint." (verses 8-9)

Romans
"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;"  (verses 9-10)

1 Corinthians
"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor; and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, if profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Guidelines for Loving

Are you trying to love someone in the flesh?
It won't work, because flesh only knows "always about me" love, selfish at heart love.

Flesh corrupts and even destroys love.
Think about your relationships in your home, in your church, in your life, and then compare them to this list.
What corrupting influence has flesh had in your relationships?
Are you....
Suspicious,                jealous,
critical,         harsh,
resentful,         dismissive,
intolerant,         gossiping,
competitive, whining,
indifferent,                 bragging,
negative,         insecure,
impatient,         vengeful,
showing partiality, ultra sensitive,
blaming,         feeling self-pity

Do you ever wish that people in your church were more loving, complain about their lack of love?
Have you ever thought about the fact that you are one of those people who aren't loving?
You are part of the problem!
Jesus commanded us to love others, not to be loved.

Who is it that I can’t stand to be around?
Who am I avoiding?
Who do I make fun of with my friends?
Who gives me pleasure when I see them fail?
Who has weakness that I repeat to myself in order to feel superior?
Who am I cutting off because they don't recognize my abilities, because they don't value me enough?
Who am I trying to impress?
Who has something I wish I had?
Who do I stay away from because they aren't popular?
Who has hurt me deeply, and I can't find forgiveness for them?
Who owes me something?
Who tries my patience?
Who do I frequently get angry at and yell at?
Who do I criticize?
Who do I complain about?
Who has let me down?
Who do I never pray for?
Who have I "cut-off" from my concern?
Who do I want to be better than?
Who do I tell myself I could love if they were more loving to me?

Walking in the Spirit is a walk in sacrificial, fruit of the Spirit kind of love. The Lord has placed you with these people to teach you to walk in the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 13 Guidelines for Loving Others
(disclaimer: these guidelines are not meant for self-protection)

Never give up
Care more for others than for yourself
Don’t want what you don’t have
Don’t strut
Don’t have a swelled head
Don't put yourself first
Don’t fly off the handle
Don’t keep track of the sins of others
Don’t revel when others grovel
Take pleasure in the flowering of truth
Put up with anything
Trust God always
Always look for the best
Never look back
Keep going to the end
Be Kind
Be Patient
Never be jealous
Never boast
Never be proud
Never be rude
Never be selfish
Don't be quick tempered
Don’t keep a record of wrongs that others do
Rejoice in the truth, but not in evil
Always be supportive
Always be loyal
Always be hopeful
Always be trusting
Never fail the other person
Don’t demand your own way
Don't be irritable
Never be glad about injustice
Rejoice whenever the truth wins out
Never lose faith
Endure through every circumstance
Don't be arrogant
Don't be resentful
Bear all things
Believe all things
Hope all things
Endure all things
Don't be a show-off
Don't be conceited
Don't be self-seeking
Don't be easily irritated
Don't fret
Don't pay attention to an offense
Bear up under anything and everything that comes
Be ever ready to believe the best of every person
Never let hope fade
Endure everything without weakening
Don't get easily angered
Don't delight in evil
Always protect others
Always persevere
Don't brag
Don't let yourself be provoked
Don't get so upset with others
Patiently accept all things


Guidelines compiled from 
New Century Version
The Message
New American Standard Version
New International Version
The Amplified Bible
English Standard Version
New Living Translation
Contemporary English Version

Calvary Love

"whoever covers an offense seeks love" Proverbs 17:9


I tried to love someone once.
I wanted to love this person, but it seemed that all my attempts were met with cold responses.
After awhile, I gave up, saying to myself, "oh well, you can't win them all". I did all I could, they just don't want to be loved. Apparently.
What if someone else comes along and is successful where you aren't?
Well, it happened. Apparently, they did want to be loved, just not by me. I felt rejected, wondered what was wrong with me, wondered why I wasn't good enough.
It's very difficult to love the person who rejects you, but I had to try again.
Why?
I wish I could say because I wanted to love in the Spirit, and maybe that was part of it, a small part of it. Mostly my flesh wanted to prove to myself that I was good enough to be loved. Little wonder that all my efforts kept failing.

Then the day came when I discovered that, based on hearsay, I had been tried and found guilty of an offense that broke all trust with this person and severed any chance of recovery. At first I was distraught that she thought this of me, contemplating how horrible I must appear to her and how she must hate me. But then I began to feel offended that she had believed this report so easily. I thought that, at least as friends, she would have valued my friendship more, that she would not have been so quick to judge me guilty, to choose the side that made me the enemy. I burned at the thoughts of all the sacrifices I had made for her and her family, and this was how they treated me back!
Outraged and hurt, I told myself that I was done. This time when the Spirit convicted, I argued back. I wasn't going to push myself where I wasn't wanted. Sunday after Sunday I sat in the meeting, sharing the Lord's table, justifying my right standing, rationalizing my attitude, being civil but careful to hold back, not wanting to put myself out there to be hurt again.

Was I loving her? No, but I wasn't hating her, and therefore, I told myself it was okay. I was excused from trying so hard to love. I thought I could get away with it, that I could go on forever this way. There didn't seem to be another option. But the Lord wasn't content to leave it.

One Sunday, as I sat across from her at the Lord’s supper, reviewing in my head, once again, all the reasons why she didn't deserve my love, the Lord said to me “Look at what you are doing. You dare to sit here remembering my death for you, enjoying all the benefits of my sacrifice and at the same time denying one of my own the love I have commanded you to give. Do you think that my love for you is of so little value, that it didn't cost me very much? I never said it would be easy. No, you are not excused from loving her with all your heart. I will not accept your weak and feeble attempts at half love.” I broke down ashamed and immediately repented.

When Jesus told us who to love, he said to love each other; he even said to love your enemies. Loving the other person doesn't require, nor imply, that they have to be your best friend.

Sometimes I feel that I will never graduate from this commandment. If I had my choice, I would much rather do clean up, teach Sunday School, decorate, sing, watch babies in the nursery, than love the unlovable, than love someone who doesn't love me back.

If I withhold even a spoonful of love, if I love based on merit, on whether I believe they deserve it, than I am not loving as Christ has loved me, or as Amy Carmichael said it in her book IF, "I know nothing of Calvary love". In the introduction of her book, Amy says that one evening a fellow worker came to her with a problem that had to do with a younger sister in Christ who had lost the way of Love. Amy stayed awake all night, wondering if she had failed this sister somehow, wondering what she truly knew of Calvary love. And then, one by one, the "ifs" came to her as if, she says, "spoken aloud in the inward ear."
For years I couldn't read Amy's book without weeping over my lack of Christ-like love; it radically changed my perspective on how I love others.
I wish that I could put all of Amy's little book here, but copyright prevents it. So I'll give you a taste of a few that still speak powerfully to me today.

"I know nothing of Calvary love...

If I hold on to choices of any kind, just because they are my choice;
If I give any room to my private likes and dislikes;
If my thoughts revolve around myself;
If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the twentieth);
If I cannot take the first without making a fuss about my unworthiness;
If I do not give a friend "the benefit of the doubt," but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done;
If I take offense easily;
If I am content to continue in a cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible;
If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word;
If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself, they would condemn me much more;
If monotony tries me and I cannot stand drudgery;
If stupid people fret me and little ruffles set me on edge;
If something I'm asked to do for another feels burdensome; and yielding to an inward unwillingness, I avoid doing it;
If the praise of men elates me and his blame depresses me;
If I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself;
If I love to be loved more than to love;"

Then I know nothing of Calvary Love.

And the Beatles sang "all you need is love"

Love, I think, is the one need we all have in common.
Every human being wants to be loved, but how much do we all want to give love?
This disparity in wanting and giving could be a problem; somebody is going to get left out.

We long to be loved, but equal to that desire is our capacity to hate.

We long to be loved, but do we, as Stephen Chbosky said in his book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, "accept the love we think we deserve"? Is that true for you? Do you have a hard time accepting love from others, because you don't feel as if you deserve it? Do you find it easier to accept love when you feel you have done something to earn it?

Likewise, do you believe that there are people who don't deserve to be loved? Have you ever felt as if you wasted your love on someone? Do people have limited opportunities to gain your love?
It seems natural to think of love in terms of reward.
All you need is love, but it's not that simple, is it?
We need some guidelines.

Love should never be difficult.
Love should bring out the best version of ourselves.
Love should make us feel good on the inside.
Love should never hurt or make us cry our eyes out.
Love should let you be yourself.
Love should make everything seem better.
Love should come naturally and easily.
Love isn't something you should have to work at.

There are two inherent dangers with this concept of love. First, if real love is easy, then I will think that it wasn't all that difficult for God to love me, and secondly, if I expect love should be easy, I won't succeed in walking in the Spirit, because I'm going to turn back to flesh as soon as love gets hard, and it will be hard, believe me.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable," says C.S. Lewis. "Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."  from The Four Loves

Let's be honest, we all know that love is painful.
Love hurts.
Love is risky.
Love is not free.

My husband told his class one day that he loved me out of obligation. You should have heard the girls howl. They were outraged. How could he say such a thing! Love should be wrapped up in warm feelings before it is given, but this... this thing sounded naked and cold. They would never accept that kind of love! I understood exactly what my husband was saying; he is loving me the way Christ loved the church and I would gladly accept that kind of love, because I trust his faithful integrity to his promises more than in my ability to earn his love.

“A new commandment I give to you," Jesus told his disciples on that fateful night when he was taken by soldiers to be tortured and then crucified. That new commandment is "that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34

Imagine yourself in that upper room when Jesus said this; imagine looking around at each person there.
What are you thinking about them?

"Really Lord???? Love Peter! Have you seen the way he behaves? He is so loud, always talking without thinking. He's pushy, and a show-off.  And I don't think I should have to love John either; he already gets enough love and attention from you. Why should I have to give him more? And what about that big move for power he and his brother made. They used their mother to try and influence you, sick! Never really trusted them since, and you can't love someone you don't trust. Thomas has to question everything, and that can get really old. I'd rather avoid him and his negativity altogether. He's a hard one to love. Poor Philip, it always takes him twice as long to catch on. He’s kind of dense, which tries my patience all the time. He's a loser, Lord. Loving him would be a waste of my time.

I can easily dismiss people I find too hard to love, but Jesus doesn't do that. Look at the men in this room through His eyes. Did any of them "deserve" to be loved? One friend has sold his trust and is ready to betray him, another will deny ever knowing him. His closest friends won't be able to stay awake to pray for him and support him in his pain, and right now, all they can do is think and argue about who will be the greatest. This is what he saw when he looked at them. Do you really think it was easy for him to love them? Still, knowing they will abandon him, he says to them, "you are those who have stood by Me in My trials," knowing that Peter will fail, He offers him restoration before it even happens.
(Luke 22:28,32)

To love in the Spirit is to love the most difficult people you will ever meet, without merit and without limit.
“I can’t love them that way!!!”, you say.
Jesus would answer, of course you can't, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
“If you love Me, ask whatever you wish.”
“If you love Me, you will love them”.

"To love means to open ourselves to suffering."
                 Elizabeth Elliot, The Path of Loneliness

Excuse me Lord, but this is really hard. I wasn't prepared for this kind of dying when I signed on for walking by the Spirit, wasn't prepared to walk in this kind of love.
I didn't realize that walking in the Spirit is a team sport.

Called to Freedom

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another." galatians5:25-26

It hit me, right between the eyes, that the purpose for seeking how to walk in the Spirit isn't for myself!

Consider what Paul wrote before he tackled the list of fleshly dominance in this letter to the Galatians, "you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." And from there Paul goes on to tell us how the flesh and the Spirit are in direct opposition.

I must confess that, in the past, it has often been my desire to walk in the Spirit in order to promote me, in order to avoid blundering into sins that involve public humiliation. I wanted to impress others with good "spiritual" qualities so that I wouldn't be judged for having bad ones. The ugly side of flesh is embarrassing, so naturally I wanted to fix it before anyone noticed. That was my problem; I wanted to fix myself naturally, selfishly. Naturally, I become disillusioned with myself and mope in my woes. Naturally, I try to make it someone else's fault. Naturally, I slip into despair at having failed to make any real change in my life. At this point, naturally speaking,  my self will seek to please me, to make me happy. I'll indulge my flesh in order to feel better, because, of course, what I want more than anything is to feel good about myself. I have looked to my flesh to make it both victor and fixer, reformer and comforter. Missing the most opportune moment to crucify my flesh, I now continue to fight this battle from here on under flesh's flag, making whatever "good" I manage to accomplish, whatever "spirituality" I conjure up, all done in flesh's strength. If I have chosen to redeem my flesh by my flesh, I won't find the Spirit trailing along, just off to the side, so that, when I think I've got it together, I can switch over. The Spirit and the flesh do not share the same road. If I'm not crucifying the flesh, I'm not walking in the Spirit.

"We will set up success in Christian work as the aim; the aim is to manifest the glory of God in human life, to live the life hid with Christ in God in human conditions. Our human relationships are the actual conditions in which the ideal life of God is to be exhibited." Oswald Chambers

The evidence of my walk is in my relationships. If I'm not walking in the Spirit, I'm missing God's interest. He is obviously very interested in how I relate to others in the family of God.

"if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him." romans 8:13-17
"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'. galatians4:6

The child is free; the slave is not.

When we came before the judge with our daughter to legally adopt her, he charged us to give to her, and likewise, for her to give to us, all the responsibilities that come with being a part of the family. When I received the Spirit, I could say "daddy" to my Heavenly Father. I am an adopted child of God, and with that comes certain responsibilities.
"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him." 1john5:1

As a member of this family, I am charged to love the other children in it. The freedom to say Abba to God brings with it the freedom to not walk in the flesh, the freedom to suffer, the freedom to serve one another in love.

FREEDOM!

Loving Aletheia

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"

When I studied Spanish at the University of Guanajuato, I would pass this slogan everyday on my way to class. It is a popular saying that has been adopted by many institutions of learning. In fact, this verse, complete with the reference John 8:32, is etched on the wall of the Old Headquarters Building of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Why is it so popular?
What truth, I wonder, do they think sets them free?
From what do they imagine it would free them?
From tyranny, from poverty, from servitude?

"If you abide in my word," Jesus said, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
The Jews answered, "We are Abraham's children, slaves to no one, from what then, could we be set free?"
Aha! Exactly! What did Jesus mean by this?
"The one who sins is a slave to sin, therefore if the Son will make you free, you are free for sure."
Jesus sets us free from sin.
If you were Abraham's children, you would follow his deeds, but instead you are seeking to kill Me, the man who has spoken truth to you. You follow the desires of your true father, the devil. He doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth him. He lies because it is in his nature to lie, because he is a liar, and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

Andrew Warren wrote about truth in Philosophy Now a magazine of Ideas, "The lack of objective truth leaves us free to carve our own truths. As in Sartre's existentialism, we aren't trapped by objectivity; rather the lack of eternal, immutable truths allows us to create what is true for ourselves. Truth is mine. My truth and your truth have no necessary relevance to each other. Because truth is subjective, it can play a much more unique and decisive role in giving life meaning; I am utterly free to choose my truths, and in doing so, I shape my own life. Without subjective truth, there can be no self-determination"

It appears that subjective truth will set you free.

I think our society has come to equate absolute truth with dogmatism and righteous arrogance, which has led to the current dismantling of truth altogether in an effort to find a way for us all to be nicer to ourselves and each other. You see, by eliminating or redefining truth, I lose my grounds to be right, making me a kinder and gentler person.
Is it in our nature to have to be right? Does that make us mean people? It may be true that the freedom to be wrong would make us all happier people, keep us from being so hard on ourselves and others, but does "being wrong" require that what I believe to be true isn't true anymore?  Would I be less convinced I was right, more agreeable to the idea of being wrong, if I believed that all truth is subjective?

God already thought of this before we did.
He designed truth and love to exist together. In His plan, my new life in Christ not only gives me the freedom to be wrong, it gives me the freedom to be wronged. He made plans for my value to be protected in Christ from all the usual self-degrading thoughts that come with failing. God justly preserves the absolute existence of Truth and still shows us grace and mercy, and commands that we be just as merciful as He is. It is not Truth that must die but our flesh, by personal sacrifice, submitting to others, giving up our rights, crucifying our desires, and walking in the fruit of the Spirit.

"Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3:3

"Buy truth and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding." Proverbs 23:23

I used to believe my emotions, fully convinced that what I felt was true. I never questioned whether my flesh was telling me the truth or not, but I always questioned everyone else's concept of truth apart from mine. Flesh does not buy and sell truth; skepticism and doubt are not fruits of the Spirit.

To walk by the Spirit is to walk in truth, to make a conscience effort and choice for truth over all other thoughts, to make a commitment to only think on those things that are true. I prefer this habit of dwelling on uncertain and untrue events of the future, because it provides a  convenient distraction from those things in the present which I actually can and should be doing something about. We are commanded to not worry about tomorrow, today has enough troubles of its own, and yet we keep on choosing to let our minds dwell on what might happen, on what we imagine others think of us, or on what we wish was different, but have no power to change.
This is not loving the truth.

"She hates me," you say, either to yourself or out loud. Why are you so convinced? Because you feel like she does, and your feelings become your source of truth. To allow yourself to dwell on such thoughts, or worse still, to say them out loud is to entertain lies, and entertaining lies is not loving the truth.

When you blur truth, "lies" don't exist, only misconceptions. That is not loving the truth.

"Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it." Blaise Pascal

How much do you love truth?

More Unpacking

As before, the form of the word is marked by asterisks.


phroneo:
This Greek word means to think, to have understanding, to observe, to have in mind.
Though not an exhaustive list of all the occurrences of phroneo or its form, it comes pretty close.

Mark 8:33
         Jesus "rebuked Peter, and said, 'Get behind me Satan; for you are not *setting your mind* on God's interests, but man's."
Romans 8:5
         "For those who are according to the flesh *set their minds* on the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, on the things of the Spirit."
Colossians 3:2
         "*Set your mind* on things above not on the things that are on earth."

Romans 12:3
         "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to *think more highly* of himself  than he ought to *think*; but to *think* so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."
Romans 12:16
         "Be of the same *mind* toward one another ; do not be haughty in *mind*, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Romans 15:5
         "Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same *mind* with one another according to Christ Jesus."
Philippians 2:2
         "make my joy complete by being of the same *mind*, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, *intent* on one purpose."
Philippians 2:5
         "Have this *attitude* in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,"
Philippians 4:2
         "I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to *live in harmony* in the Lord."

Philippians 3:14-19
         "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this *attitude*; and if in anything you have a different *attitude*, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep *living by* that same standard to which we have attained. Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who *set their mind* on earthly things."

Whose interests do you usually have in mind?

A funny mix-up with language and culture happened to me in Mexico around this idea of interests. Mexico is an indirect society, that is, they do not communicate bluntly as most of us do in the United States, and as a result, motives are usually highly suspect. So when I was approached by a woman who told me that their family members, who were studying the Bible, were doing it "por interes", (because of interest) I remarked what a good thing that was, assuming that she meant they were interested in the Bible. Come to find out that, when someone is doing something "por interes", it means they have their own interests in mind, primarily one that involves financial gain.

Oswald Chambers wrote "thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God," and to that I would say AMEN! My only problem is, how do I stop thinking about myself?

My favorite ride at the water park is the lazy river. I love the sensation of being carried along by the current. Put me in the middle of the Niagara River, however, and I would be swimming as hard as I could to change direction, futile as it may be.
When I approach the current of my mind as if it were that lazy river, I'm too easily lulled into letting my fleshly mind direct me whichever way it wants to, and invariably that way is self centered. The mind is a powerful current reflecting attitude, and dictating the standard by which we live. If I'm not fighting it, I'm probably drifting with it, right into danger.

Walking with my mind set on the Spirit takes intention and effort, with most of that effort going towards crucifying the flesh and dying to self. Look at these two verses in Philippians again, "make my joy complete by being of the same *mind*, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, *intent* on one purpose." and "I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to *live in harmony* in the Lord." It seems that unity in the body of Christ is achieved in the mind, that harmony is a way of thinking, and the biggest obstacle is if each of us lets our own mind be consumed with thoughts of self. The mind set on the Spirit is a team player; it doesn't seek it's own glory, but looks out first for the interests of others. If you are living in discord and division with your brothers and sisters in Christ, seeing them as enemies, or yourself in opposition, if you typically function independently of your church body, tend to pull away rather than bond, you are not looking out for God's interests.

"I, Paul, prisoner of the Lord, plead with you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness and patience, tolerating one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. " Ephesians 4:1-3


phronema:
The Greek word for thought, purpose, aspirations, thought that results in behavior.
It appears only four times, each of those in Romans 8.
Romans 8:6-7
         "For the *mind* set on the flesh is death, but the *mind* set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the *mind* set on the flesh is hostile to God;"
Romans 8:27
         "and He who searches the heart knows what the *mind* of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."


dianoia:
This Greek word represents the mind, understanding, intellect, and disposition.
It is the word for mind that we find in the most important commandment the Lord gave us, the greatest commandment to "love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your *mind*" Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27

Ephesians 2:3
         "Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the *mind*, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
Ephesians 4:18
         "being darkened in their *understanding*, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;"

Colossians 1:21
         "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in *mind*, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach"

(quoted from Jeremiah 31:33)
Hebrews 8:10
         "I will put My laws into their *minds*, and I will write them upon their hearts," and similarly quoted in Hebrews 10:16 "I will put My laws upon their heart, and upon their *mind* I will write them,"

1 Peter 1:13
         "Therefore, gird your *minds* for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ"
The expression "gird your minds" is with a view to active exertion, the way a flowing tunic was tucked up into the belt to keep it from getting in the way of action.

1 John 5:20
         "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us *understanding*, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ."

I'm humbled by the reality that if God had not written on our wicked minds that which is true, we would be unable to love Him. We can't just let our minds go to chaos; we must discipline it to always be on the alert, ready for battle.


logizomai:
This Greek word can be interpreted a number of ways: reckon, consider, think, compute, reason.
Logizomai, or its form, is included about 20 times in the book of Romans, more than half of those are in chapter 4 alone and translated "reckon".
It shows up here in my list because of its use in Philippians  4:8.
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, *let your mind dwell* on these things."

1 Corinthians 13:5
         Love "does not *take into account* a wrong suffered,"
Romans 4:8
         "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not *take into account*."
Romans 6:11
         "Even so, *consider* yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:18
         "For I *consider* that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

We are not always able to control what enters the mind, but we do have charge of what we let our minds dwell on. These are the thoughts that we engage our mind to think on, for an extended time, in order to draw a conclusion, whether it is in the positive or the negative. These verses give the aspect of determination and duration of what our minds think about.

On the negative side, we must be careful to not let our minds dwell on those things we are warned to avoid. Just as the Lord chooses to not dwell on our sin, just as He chooses to not keep a list of them so that He can continue to bring them up, over and over, so we should  show love by not dwelling on the wrongs that others have committed against us, not keeping an account of their offenses. Don't let your mind dwell on their sin, or your sin, but instead forgive, and be forgiven. Don't let your mind keep that list of wrongs that you have tucked away for those times when you can pull it out again, to review and relive the hurt.  Don't let your mind linger on lies, on lusts, on evil plots, on the ugly, or on another's bad reputation.

On the positive side, what we should think on are not to be wisps of thoughts that last no longer than a puff of smoke; they are not conclusions arrived at in a few seconds. These are thoughts that, like numbers in a mathematical problem, have been calculated and written as the perfect solution, the infinite answer.
Do let your mind dwell on the truth.
Do let your mind linger on the honorable, the right, the pure, the lovely, the good reputation, the excellent, the praiseworthy.
Do let your mind think about sufferings, but only if in doing so, your sum total comes up to be far inferior to the glory awaiting you in heaven, otherwise, don't let your mind go there.

And stand ready to do this for the rest of your life.

Unpacking the Mind

As I meditate on the Spirit's role in my thought life, I find my mind, or should I say the Spirit, bringing to mind other things that God's Word tells us, for instance, "loving God with all your mind" and "the mind set on the flesh is death", and "set your mind on things above". We are exhorted to "gird up our minds", and to "renew our minds".

The other day, my husband was observing how the variety of words used to describe the same thing in a language reflects the importance of that particular thing in the culture. Do you know how many Greek words are used in the Bible for the mind? Would you believe no less than six? My plan here is to unpack each one with the goal of growing in our Biblical understanding of how walking by the Spirit should affect our minds.
The verses are quoted from the New American Standard Version.
The definitions of the Greek words were compiled from biblehub.com.

nous:
This Greek word means mind, reason, or intellect.
Not all occurrences in the Bible are included here; I have chosen ones that relate to our walk. You will find the form of the word marked by asterisks.

Romans 7:23-25
         "but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my *mind*, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my *mind* am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."
Romans 11:34
         "For who has known the *mind* of the Lord or who became His counselor?"
Romans 12:2
         "And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your *mind*"

1 Corinthians 1:10
         "I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same *mind* and in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 2:16
         "For who has known the *mind* of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the *mind* of Christ
1 Cor 14:14, 15, 19
         "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my *mind* is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I shall pray with the Spirit and I shall pray with the *mind* also; I shall sing with the Spirit and I shall sing with the *mind* also. In the church, I desire to speak five words with my *mind*, that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue."

Ephesians 4:17-18
         "This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their *mind*, being darkened in their understanding."
Ephesians 4:22-24
         "in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your *mind*, and put on the new self, which in God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

Philippians 4:7
         "And the peace of God, which surpasses all *comprehension*, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus."
Colossians 2:18-19
         "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly *mind*, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God."

What do we learn about the mind, reason and intellect?
We are told that, though the Lord's mind is beyond our grasp, we have the mind of Christ!
We serve the law of God with our minds; it is where we find freedom from sin. My fleshly mind does not hold fast to the mind of Christ, but leads me astray to fleshly things like visions and the worship of created beings and pleasure in self-harm. Before Christ, my mind took me in useless directions, but now my mind goes through real transformation when I abandon the old lusts of the flesh and put on the new self, created in righteousness and truth. Change will have to occur in our minds.
In the church, we pray and sing with both the Spirit and the mind, and we seek for agreement of mind and judgment with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Finally, that is not a typo in Philippians 4:7. The word "nous" is indeed translated comprehension, while another word is used for "mind".
So what is that other word?

noema:
This Greek word means the mind, thought, purpose, or scheme.
With the exception of Philippians 4:7, it is used exclusively in 2 Corinthians in the following verses.

2 Corinthians 2:10-11
         "if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his *schemes*."
2 Corinthians 3:14
         "But their *minds* were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ."
2 Corinthians 4:4
         "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the *minds* of the unbelieving that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
2 Corinthians 10:5
         "we are taking every *thought* captive to the obedience of Christ,"
2 Corinthians 11:3
         "I am afraid as the serpent deceived Eve, your *minds* may be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

Philippians 4:7
         "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your *minds* in Christ Jesus."

This one unpacks quite differently, doesn't it? Here we see Satan's scheming mind, see him blinding the minds of unbelievers and leading our minds astray. It also seems to reveal weak minds, hardened minds, vulnerable minds, desperately needy minds.
I feel like I'm more intimately connected to this mind, but Truth tells me I have the mind of Christ. Which one am I going to live by?

Let's review Paul's exhortation.
Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. Make your requests known to God. And God's peace, which is so vastly beyond all your reasoning and intellect, will act as a guard, surrounding and protecting your heart and mind from attack. philippians 4:6-7


AMEN!

Whoa Nellie

As a child, I had this romantic view of horses, always dreaming of having one. I remember riding by fields with horses in them and saying, "those are my horses." When I was about 12 years old, we moved to a 20 acre lot in Louisiana and my dream came true; my dad bought two old horses, but when I got close to "old Nellie", as we called her, my illusions evaporated and in their place I saw this muscle-bound, powerful creature who, every now and then, released that intimidating power through her nose, snorting loudly. I was terrified inside, but I got on her anyway, and my brother warned me not to let Nellie step into the fence-post holes that he and my dad had just finished digging, but had not yet filled with poles. I am of the sad kind of person that as soon as you give me a warning, I'm certain that that is exactly what I'm going to do, somehow destined now to screw it up. So I got extremely nervous, to which some kind, helpful spectator shouted "don't get nervous, they can sense your fear". "Great!" I thought, too late now, and, as if she really could sense my fear, Nellie took off running down our gravel driveway, knocking me flat on my back, but not out of the saddle.
Thus began the most terrifying ride of my life.
I knew that in a half mile, we would come out on the highway, so as my head bounced on the horse's rump, I started thinking about my options. How was I going to get out of this muddle I had gotten myself into?  I should just roll off the horse onto the ground, but that brilliant idea was abandoned as soon as I glanced over the side and saw the speed with which the gravel was streaking by. There was a moment when I resigned myself to my fate. "Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it," I thought, "I'm completely at the mercy of this horse, I'm going to die." I didn't think I could sit up on the horse, let alone stop her. Then, out of nowhere, "do something" swooped in like a super-hero and I did. Miraculously still holding onto the reins, I managed to pull myself up and bring Nellie to a stand still at the top of a rise, just short of the highway, and just in time to see my big brother, half way down the drive, coming after me on the other horse. Having jumped on with no time to adjust the stirrups, he looked very comical, bumping down the road with his knees sticking out the side of the horse like wings.

Sometimes our minds and our thoughts run away with us. We find ourselves flattened out by the things we think; they carry us away, bouncing us along against our will it seems, and feeling helpless to stop them. Do you ever feel as if you are at the mercy of your mind, that it chooses to run off with your thoughts and you can do nothing to stop it?

"For though we walk in the flesh (as in, we are in these bodies until we die or are taken up with Christ), we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."
fortresses: strongholds, not a common word in classical Greek according to Strong's concordance, but used in this occasion, figuratively, of false arguments which may serve as a place of refuge from reality.

Where are those fortresses that divine weapons can tear down?
"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

This war is being waged right in my mind, every waking moment and sometimes even in my sleep. I feel completely unprepared for it, most often cowering behind the rubble trying to not get hit. Sometimes I fight back, rising up and launching a counter attack, shooting arrows of arguments, only to drop and hide from the bombarding that comes in reply. I'm feeble. I'm tired. I want to give up. I want it to stop. I want to lie down and sleep.

Oh, no you don't!
If you go to battle with weapons of the flesh, you are guaranteed defeat, guaranteed to give up and give Satan a foothold, but you have divine weapons, have real spiritual power.
Don't bother with whether you feel like warfare or not, that's a waste of time. You are in this, whether you want to or not. Are you ready?

Be strong in the Lord. Put down your flesh and put on the full armor of God. Stand firm, with truth, righteousness and salvation strapped on. Don't launch arguments anymore, you will never win, instead, take up the shield of faith, blocking and deflecting those fiery darts. With the helmet of salvation and the Word of God, lies will no longer have a foothold in your mind. Speak truth to yourself in the Spirit, and never stop praying. Ephesians 6:10-18

And if you can't remember all of that, when you do catch your mind running away, just say "whoaaaa, Nellie".

The Delusional Nature of the Flesh

Delusion: a belief that isn't true
Delusional: inability to distinguish between what is real and what seems to be real
latin from deludo: to deceive or dupe

Delusional disorder, according to the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, appears in the person who is convinced of an irrational belief to such an extent that he or she refuses to change his mind even when presented with proof that contradicts that belief.
(hey, that's.....hmmmm)
Sounds like that could describe you a little, right, but we're talking about things like someone who is convinced they are being watched or under surveillance, someone who believes that Brad Pitt secretly loves them, people who are irrationally convinced that their spouse is cheating on them, the person who believes he has been given a special revelation from a spiritual power, or that aliens have planted a creature inside him who is eating his brain.

Okay, so maybe I don't have the disorder, but that definition still hits pretty close to home.

Cambridge Neuroscience published an article titled "The Deluded Brain" that includes their recent findings in exploring why our brains are subject to delusional thoughts. "We learn by our mistakes" they explain. Dopamine neurons in our brain cells receive information and from that we learn to predict what will probably happen next time. If future information presents a contradiction to the first prediction, our brains should reason a way to choosing the more likely prediction and adjusting our beliefs. But our brains don't always do that, can't always be relied upon to be able to choose what is the most probable.
So why do we sometimes believe the option that is least probable?
What influences that decision? Why do we give more credence to some evidence over another?
Are we biased in our beliefs, predisposed to accept one system of truth over another in the absence of evidence or in the presence of a more logical explanation?
When others tell us we are wrong, we stick to what we have experienced, discarding any evidence because it cannot outweigh the presupposed bias to truth that we are already convinced to be true.
Sure, we don't all suffer from delusional disorder, but doesn't it often seem like we are all genetic cousins to the disorder?

In answer to his question "Is healthy belief formation optimal, or are we all deluded?", Rob Hoskin, PhD student in the Neuroscience Department of Sheffield University, writes this observation in his August 12, 2012 blopost on British Science Association Brainwaves, "most people display a "belief bias", the tendency to evaluate the validity of evidence based on their prior beliefs, rather than on the inherent validity of the evidence as could be assessed through logical reasoning." He goes on to say, "we have a bias towards evaluating beliefs more in terms of their inherent probability (as we see it) without fully taking into account new evidence," concluding that since the coded transmission of neural signals are influenced by a significant amount of noise, "differences in beliefs between people are presumably therefore inevitable, as is the likelihood that we all, at some time, adopt irrational convictions. Of course these are just things that I believe, and I may be deluded in believing them!"

"When it is not in our power to determine what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable," says Rene` Descartes, 17th century French Philosopher, best known for his statement "I think, therefore I am".
Descartes assumes that we can and will follow the path of greatest probability, but is that true? Even he based his whole approach to philosophy on one night of intense dreams that he had while shut up in a heated room. How rational is it to trust in visions you receive in a hotbox? It would seem that Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, succumbed to building his own truth off of an irrational experience.

I think I have a good grasp on this probability factor for determining truth, but then my daughter said to me the other day, "sometimes you couldn't see truth when it was staring you in the face." "Really," I said, "give me an example." I know, what was I thinking?  Anyway, she proceeded to dramatize an evening at the dinner table where she, my husband and I were eating, and I asked how the food tasted? She tells me, "we said, 'it's good, but a little salty', and suddenly you, Mom, threw up your hands (this was where she got dramatic) and said 'fine! I'm never going to cook again.' We said, "Mom, it's good", but it didn't matter. You kept arguing, "No, no, it's too salty, I'm a terrible cook. You won't have to eat my food anymore," continuing to mutter, "that's the last time I'll ever cook."

Our brains are wired to mis-fire.
As I said before, we would like to think that we are rational beings, capable of thinking our way to truth.
But then my version of the truth makes total sense to me, seems completely rational from my perspective. I've got all the proof I need to be convinced of my truth. Why can't you see it!

Don't be duped, you can't arrive at truth in the flesh.
Stop deluding yourself.
Truth is the indispensable role of the Spirit.

The Truth is Out There

"I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth." 1john2:21

What is the truth?
How do you arrive at the truth?
How do you know what truth you should believe?
Is truth based on facts, is it measured by the mounds of evidence, is it found in consistency, is it arrived at by the most convincing argument?

Scientists would say that truth is based on evidence, the more overwhelming the evidence, the more certain the theory. Theories are the structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts, but "fact" in science doesn't mean absolute certainty. According to scientists, overwhelming evidence has made biological evolution a fact for over a century. Just as the fact that the earth is round is no longer a matter of debate, the book on evolution is also closed.
What about the contribution that modern technology has revealed? Is there really nothing newly discovered over the last hundred years that might shed doubt? Does saying that evolution is a fact, infer then, that all new evidence must support it, or that no new evidence can reverse it?  If we followed this "logic" in the past, might we still be living on a flat world being circled by the sun?

It is a widely accepted notion that sugar causes children to be hyper, yet the results of a double blind study, published in the November 22, 95 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, couldn't prove it. In fact, according to a study published in the August 94 issue of Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, parents who thought their kids were being fed sugar, when they were actually given a placebo, were more likely to report hyperactivity than parents whose children had indeed received sugar, but their parents thought they hadn't. It would seem that expectations affected perception. In spite of these findings, will we ever be convinced that sugar is not at fault?

I say that we are all prone to consider true whatever we already believe to be true, and thereby filter all further evidence as either supporting our truth, or if it doesn't, as unreliable, irrational or conspired. I like hearing my truth being proclaimed; it downright makes me euphoric.

We are also prone to believe what we want to believe is true. "Do you think he likes me?" the young woman asks her friends, as if a consensus will confirm truth. A boy says "I love you", and a girl loses her virginity because she wants to believe it.  She's not interested in her friends' warnings, doesn't believe the rumors of infidelity, ignores the red flags. Is that rational?

Juan Diego sees an apparition in 1531, and an entire country is converted to worshiping a woman. The vision and interpretations of Joseph Smith in the 1820's led to a religion that has swept the world. Since 610, when the prophet Muhammad began receiving visions from the angel Gabriel while alone in a cave, Islam has grown to include more than 23% of the world's population.  How do so many arrive to a truth built on a single person's vision without any witnesses? Does that sound logical?

The author of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, may have written a fascinating piece of fiction, but why should that keep us from wondering if the conspiracy of the Catholic church is true? Conspiracies are just too appealing to the flesh to pass up a chance to exploit one.

"Truth has power," Dan Brown says, "and if we all gravitate toward similar ideas, maybe we do so because those ideas are true...written deep within us. And when we hear the truth, even if we don't understand it, we feel that truth resonate within us...vibrating with our unconscious wisdom."

Remember how we thought society was going to collapse on January 1, 2000? Did you feel the gravitational pull of that "truth"? Oh it vibrated violently in all our wisdoms when we heard it, yet somehow that didn't make it to be true.

My purpose here is not to be an apologist, to give clever arguments for what is the truth.
My purpose is to expose us to the reality of human nature, to the flesh, and suggest that we are not so especially good at knowing or finding truth, not so especially consistent with truth, as we would like to think ourselves to be. We say that we arrive at the truth through inquiry, proof, and logic, but historically, we have consistently proven that our minds are irrational, that we are predisposed to believe certain things, that we easily succumb to irrational thought due to fears, even when the evidence isn't there.

We are naturally skeptics and doubters, but does that mean we are naturally truth seekers?
I wonder if we have grossly over-estimated our "natural instinct" for truth. Are we as logical and consistent as we believe ourselves to be? Is it the nature of flesh to seek truth?

I asked a young friend of mine whose flesh appeal is existentialism, if, having believed in Jesus Christ, he believed he had arrived at the truth. His answer: he believed he had arrived at the source of truth. Like you and me, every day he must crucify the flesh, for flesh doesn't know the meaning of surrender. Every day he must be ready to put to death the desire his flesh has to think on existential thought, and return to the Spirit for his truth.
Do not be deceived in thinking that your flesh will guide you into truth, only the Spirit can do that.

Jesus promised,
"when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth;" john16:13
Jesus prayed,
"Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth." john17:17