05/16/2026
Genesis 1:26–27
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Matthew 25:15
“He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. . . .”
1 Corinthians 4:7
What gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?
Ephesians 2:10
We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Our abilities come from God. Every person is a special creation of God, created “in his own image” but with unique physical characteristics, personality, potential, and talents. God has empowered every person with special abilities; no one is left empty-handed.
Romans 12:4-8
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
Ephesians 4:11-13
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church . . . to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ . . . until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
In addition to our natural abilities and talents, God has given spiritual gifts to people who belong to Christ and are filled with his Spirit (members of the “body of Christ”). These gifts are given to equip God’s people to do his work, so we should use them to build up our communities of faith.
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