Spiritual Gifts: God's Love Language
A Word in Season:
Spiritual Gifts: God’s Love Language
Prophet Bob Jones went home to be with Jesus, his first love, on February 14th, 2014. Bob will be greatly missed by many. It is no surprise to me that he went to his home in heaven on Valentines Day.
I once heard Bob share a testimony of dying, going to heaven and being sent back to earth to complete his assignment. While in heaven, he watched the Lord speak to people that were coming there. And He asked them only one question: "Did you learn to love?" He did not ask them what they did. He asked them the one question, “Did you learn to love?” He would ask them that question and they would say, "Yes Lord," and He would kiss them, embrace them, and the double doors of His heart would open and they would go right on in.
“Let love be your highest goal!” (1 Corinthians 14:1 - New Living Translation).
As we grow in our love for God, it is natural to grow in our desire for God to love people through us. As any relationship deepens and is enriched through communication, so God has chosen to express His love to people through the avenue of communication. One means He has chosen to accomplish this is through prophetic ministry.
Prophetic ministry in a simplistic definition is: Receiving a specific revelation from God and communicating that revelation for the purpose of encouraging, building up, or comforting someone. It is “hearing” from God and speaking to others what you hear.
“Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy”. (1 Corinthians 14:1 – New American Standard Bible).
It is not enough to pursue love. We are to pursue love AND EARNESTLY DESIRE spiritual gifts, especially that we might prophesy. Why would God tell us to “earnestly desire” spiritual gifts, especially that we might prophesy (communicate a specific revelation from God to others)? Could it be because He earnestly desires to communicate to others, through you and me? Spiritual gifts are given in order to minister to others. Love desires to serve. God has given us spiritual gifts as a way to love and serve others. Spiritual gifts are God’s love language.
So it is with yourselves; since you are so eager and ambitious to possess spiritual endowments and manifestations of the [Holy] Spirit, [concentrate on] striving to excel and to abound [in them] in ways that will build up the church. -(1 Corinthians 14:12 Amplified Bible).
Believe God wants to speak to you and through you. Then seek, try, and strive to excel and abound in prophetic ministry as a way of loving people. You won’t start off perfect. It will require practice. But anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. Growing in discernment is a lifelong process. You will get better at discerning His “voice” if you practice.
“Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong” - (Hebrews 5:14 New Living Translation).