Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual Gifts are not gifts that have been endowed upon sages and saints because in our ordinary lives and in our ordinary ways we do touch the lives of people and bring joy to them, which is no less than a spiritual gift. It is written in the various religious treatises about the various spiritual gifts that man can have but according to me Spiritual Gifts cannot be categorized neither are they visible in a person. They are like the spirit of God, which is omnipresent, yet is invisible. We can only feel it at times and the ones who make us feel so are not great individuals but the fellow human beings with whom we live day in day out. It would include our colleagues, parents, siblings, co passengers in a train or bus and the like who is a part of our lives and touch our lives everyday with their deeds.

History says that the word spiritual gift has been derived from the word "chrismata" which is also referred to as "charisma" and to put it in simple words it means the "grace of God". According to the Bible the following can be categorized as Spiritual Gifts:

• Wisdom
• Apostleship
• Prophecy
• Evangelism
• Knowledge
• Distinguishing between spirits
• Healing
• Giving
• Faith
• Working of miracles
• Teaching
• Interpretation of languages
• Speaking of languages
• Administration
• Leading
• Exhortation
• Compassion

These are the Spiritual gifts according to the Bible and these make a person spiritual but most of us have one or a combination of one or more qualities. The list takes in almost all the qualities that a person should have and it is advisable that we teach our children to put in efforts and imbibe all these qualities than teaching them that since they belong to a certain religion they already have all the spiritual gifts. It is better to teach them to be Leaders since once you become a leader you need to set an example, which is not possible, if you are not on the correct path. Leadership is like taking up God’s own job to guide the herd of people towards the right direction. Knowledge gives power to fight against one's own impulses and the negative vibes generated by others. Discernment is the gift by virtue of which an individual can distinguish between the decisions and acts that are divine, satanic or human. With the help of their spirituality scientists have been able to work out miracles and craftsmen have been able to work out excellence. These are the same virtues that we take help of everyday and practice.

Acquiring Spiritual Gifts

It is often said that if one wants to acquire a spiritual gift that he/she feels that he/she does not have, it has to be asked for from God and it is up to the Almighty to grant the request or not but I feel that these spiritual gifts are to be strived for. They would only come to a person when the individual puts in efforts and works in that direction. God has made man powerful and has made life for him a permutation and combination of choices. There are many crossroads and life depends on the roads that he/she chooses to take from every crossroad.