Growing
Spiritual gifts
In plain words
Spiritual gifts are abilities the Holy Spirit gives Christians so they can serve and build each other up.
Every Christian has been given something by God to help others. The Bible calls these spiritual gifts. Some sound ordinary, like serving, teaching, encouraging or giving. Others sound unusual, like healing or speaking in other languages. All are meant for others, not to show off, and none of them makes a person more important.
Think of a team where every player has a different role. Nobody can do everything, and nobody is useless. Peter says each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others (1 Peter 4:10). That includes you, even if you are new.
Go further Growing
Paul says there are different gifts, but the same Spirit, and each person is given a gift "for the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). Lists in Romans 12:6-8 and Ephesians 4:11-12 include prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy and equipping others.
A common mistake is to rank gifts and feel small if yours seems ordinary. Another is to sit back and wait to discover your gift before doing anything. Often you find your gift by serving. Try helping in different ways, ask others where they see God using you, and keep doing what builds people up.
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The Greek charisma comes from charis, grace: a gift of grace. Paul also uses pneumatika, spiritual things. In the Old Testament the Spirit came on certain people for certain tasks, while the New Testament shows the Spirit poured out on all believers, as Joel had promised.
Christians differ on whether all the gifts, such as prophecy, tongues and healing, continue today in the same way as in the early church; your local church will explain how it understands this. All agree that gifts serve love, as Paul shows by placing 1 Corinthians 13 right in the middle of his teaching on gifts.
My verses
There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.
And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ.