MOTIVATIONAL GIFTS
MOTIVATIONAL GIFTS
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
I have been pondering teaching on motivational gifts mainly because Christians do not understand that everyone does not have their gifts and operates differently one from another. Once we have an understanding of others’ gifts within Christ’s One-Body, we celebrate those gifts and welcome them into our fellowship as we assemble together. God has put gifts in the church to help the church grow. Every believer has a job to do. Every gift and job are important. We are to help each other, and not compare your gifts or my gifts with others.
Last week, as Prophetess Gloria Scott was ministering to some of you about your gifts and callings, she changed the flow and began to minister about your innate gifts which were given to you by God when you were born. She rightly spoke that these are the gifts of your character that you will do without being paid.
This is your passion and bliss. If you can be so fortunate in life that your livelihood utilizes your bliss, you come into purpose and ultimate destiny. Your job will no longer be dull and boring, but you will wake up every day with great joy because what you are doing makes you happy. God had a plan and purpose for your life before you were born.
You have heard me say many times, “I have to preach.” I can say like Paul, for I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship (1 Co. 9:16-18).
I will preach whether anyone listens to me or not, or whether I ever earn a penny. Apostle Scott spoke to me last week in the service, “Pastor Carolyn was born to preach.”
Studying the Word of God, teaching, and preaching is not work for me. It is my joy and passion. Teaching/Preaching the Word catapults me into the prophetic. Worship catapults me into tongues and interpretation. Speaking in tongues catapults me into Word of knowledge, Word of wisdom, discernment, the Spirit of counsel, and prophecy.
I will be taking my text today from Pastor Bruce Edwards, Breakthrough for You, Motivational Gifts. This teaching is posted on the web. It is excellent and I will use it as a guideline.
The term “motivational gifts” though not in the Holy Bible rightly describes the gifts of Romans chapter 12. They are not to be confused with the 5 ministry gifts of Ephesians 4. These gifts operate by grace within the 9 spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12. The 7 motivational gifts are prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and mercy. These are given to empower believers to serve God and to help meet the needs of others. These are natural giftings that have been amplified by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and by grace have become supernatural abilities. There are more listed in chapter 12, but for today we will focus on these seven.
12:3-5: Through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so, we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teaches, on teaching. Or he that exhorts, on exhortation. He that gives, let him do it with simplicity. He that rules with diligence. He that shows mercy with cheerfulness.
These seven gifts are also called “Functional Gifts.” All seven of these gifts are distributed to every believer in part, however, each believer will have at least one of these gifts as their dominant focus of function and motivation. The gifts are a matter of function. God works through us using these gifts to help us function together to help the Church grow and be healthy.
If we understand how these gifts function, there will be less misunderstanding and more appreciation for each other's diversity of giftings.
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Motivational Gift of Prophecy:
Since this is an Apostolic/prophetic church where prophecy and the gifts of the Holy Spirit flow freely in all of our services, we have learned to celebrate God’s diversity of gifts in His servants. Prophecy is a ministry gift to the Body in Ephesians 4:11 and one of the spiritual gifts of 1 Co. 12:10. If your primary gift is prophecy, it does not necessarily mean you are a prophet. If you are called to the Office of Prophet, you will receive a personal visit from Jesus. You will know that you know you are being called, chosen, and given a commission. As your motivational gift, prophecy will be your modem to Heaven. Your lifeline and the air you breathe will be cut off if you are separated from the prophetic flow of the Holy Spirit. Your actions and motives will be aligned with the Word of God. You will see things as only black and white with no gray. You are direct and persuasive. You will be loyal to truth over friendship, usually very serious and extremely dedicated. You discern character and motives and see things in absolutes. Frankness may be viewed as harshness. You may be judged as intolerant because your focus is on right or wrong. Your strong desire to convey truth may be misinterpreted as having no compassion or interest in others' point of view.
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Motivational Gift of Serving:
More people have the motivational gift of serving as their primary gift than any other. As Christians, we should all be willing servants. Jesus called himself a Servant. The Motivational Gift of Serving sees all the things that need to be done. They are very observant. They are problem solvers, recognize the need, and quickly begin helping to meet the need. Servers are dependable and will work extra to see the job completed. They need to be shown and told that what they are doing is appreciated. Servers enjoy working with their hands and helping others. They often are involved in a lot of activity because they are unable to say no. They may appear to be pushy, controlling, and/or territorial because of their need to see the job completed to their specifications. They can appear upset and frustrated because they don’t feel others have the same motive for the same outcome.
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Motivational Gift of Teaching:
Those with this motivational gift have the ability to more easily understand the principles and teachings of God’s word, and to clearly share them with others. They are motivated to make sure the facts of their teaching are Biblically correct and effectively communicated to others, so they can live their life based upon these truths. Just because you have the motivational gift of teaching does not mean you are called to the office of teacher. Teachers love to read and study. They place great emphasis on the accuracy of facts and words. Teachers often get more joy in doing research than in teaching the material. They will present truth in a systematic way and avoid scripture out of context. They tend to be more objective than subjective. The Office of Teacher in contrast, will be revelatory and see beyond what is written.
Teachers are misunderstood if their emphasis is on scriptural illustrations and neglect practical application. In the flesh, teachers can become legalistic. If they become prideful in their knowledge, they will test others, or be overbearing using their knowledge to get an upper hand. Debating their knowledge of the Word is also a sign of pride.
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Encouraging:
The person with the gift of encouragement has a divine ability to reassure, strengthen and affirm those around them. They help inspire and exhort others to do their best. Encouragers are very positive and are natural “cheerleaders” – motivating people to keep moving forward toward the goal. They are usually very friendly and get along with others easily. Encouragers are natural networkers and influencers. They are motivated to see people improve and succeed by following the truth of God’s Word.
Encouragers are misunderstood when their enthusiasm may appear to be unreal, unnecessary or overbearing. Their strong emphasis on specific steps may appear as if they oversimplify the problems. Because they are so focused on sharing their solutions, they can seem to be poor listeners.
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MOTIVATIONAL GIFT OF GIVING
Those with the motivational gift of giving have a divine ability to give money, time, and resources to the work of the LORD with cheerfulness and liberality. They just LOVE to give and want to see the work of God go forward and succeed. Those with the gift of giving are excited by the prospect of blessing others. They desire to give quietly, in secret, but will also motivate others to give. The giver is very alert and sensitive to people’s needs. They give cheerfully and always give the best that they can. A key principle for the giver is stewardship.
They are often misunderstood because of their desire to increase the effectiveness of a ministry by their gift. They have to be careful to give no appearance of trying to control the work or person. Also, takers will try to take advantage of this gift, so it is wise to obey the scripture and give in secret.
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MOTIVATIONAL GIFT OF MERCY
These beautiful folks have a special ability to minister cheerfully and appropriately to people who are suffering. They feel genuine empathy and compassion for others who are going through difficulties and challenges in their life. We all are to be merciful, but those who have this as their dominant gift have a much stronger sense of compassion and a motivation to help individuals, who are hurting or in trouble. Those with the motivational gift of mercy are the “heart” of the body.
Their avoidance of firmness and confrontation may appear as weakness and indecisiveness. Their sensitivity to words and actions which have caused hurts in a person’s life can be viewed as enabling. Because of their compassion towards those who are in trouble, it can appear they take sin lightly.
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MOTIVATIONAL GIFT OF LEADING:
The person with the gift of leading has the divine ability to perceive the leading of the Holy Spirit for a ministry and to follow the vision of the Pastor. They have a special administrative ability to plan and execute the vision for the church as presented by the Pastor. They bring unity to move everyone toward achieving the goal or vision. They bring order by setting up systems, processes and structure to fulfill the leading of the Holy Spirit as presented by the Pastor.