Ten Most Valuable Spiritual Gifts

God bestows gifts upon His children and since each of us wishes earnestly to hear our Lord say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant," we should strive to use every gift he has given us to the best of our ability. If we fail to use them wisely they could be taken away. (Matt. 25:29)

The following explains the ten most valuable things that God has given us and how to use them wisely.

#1.Time

Time seems to be that which many of us have so little of in the hustling bustle of our daily lives. Oftentimes we pile up unnecessary burdens and end up defeating our purpose by spreading ourselves too thin. On the other hand, many of us tend to center all of our attention on one area, leaving other areas of our lives neglected.

Our time should be organized in a way that we can contribute to all areas that need it including work, home, family, study and prayer. For most of us, work takes up the majority of our time so we must carefully organize the time that remains.

When we focus all of our attention on something that we think is important we end up neglecting other things that may be less important to us yet still need attention. We may, for instance, neglect home or office in order to spend quality time with family but with a little planning, both could be accomplished in the same amount of time. As we set aside time for the less important things, getting them done and out of the way, we can fully focus on what we feel is more important.

#2 Money

Another gift of God is money and like all other gifts, some of us are given very little while others are given more. Feeding the hungry and helping the poor is what the Lord has told us to do but how we manage our money determines what we receive in return.

Learning to be thrifty can stretch our dollars and enhance our quality of life. Before making a purchase we should stop and consider how many hours we had to labor in order to buy it. This kind of mental attitude can greatly change our prospective.

When God has blessed us with money and we want to use it to bring him glory we can ask those in our life circles if they know anyone in need. When a friend tells us of such a one we can give through the friend. Ask them to present it to the needy one as a gift from the Lord which will give God the glory while storing up treasures in heaven.

The Apostle Paul said that family is where our charity should begin and we should help those of our own household. Paul also said that we should always use discernment when it comes to charity. He told the churches that those who don't work don't eat. Helping those who are perfectly capable of helping themselves only enables them to continue in their circumstances.

#3 Discernment

Discernment is a valuable gift as it allows us to know what to do in most situations. Many of us can't tell when we are being be taken advantage of while those with the gift of discernment can usually tell right away when someone is not worthy of help.

Unfortunately there are a number of persons who sponge off others. They are very good at playing helpless and preying on the tenderhearted. Those with the gift of discernment can see through this kind of pretense.

#4 Wisdom

Having the gift of discernment isn't the same as the gift of wisdom which is one of the most precious gifts of God. Being able to see through pretense is a great gift to have but having the wisdom and understanding needed to respond is even more valuable.

When a man who is perfectly able to work asks for financial help, a person with discernment may simply tell him to get a job while a person with wisdom would rather go the extra mile and convince him of his need to support himself then help him secure decent employment. Wisdom is indeed a very valuable gift and according to the Bible it is more precious than gold and silver.

#5 Talents

Nevertheless, time and money are typically the first things we think of when it comes to the gifts we receive from God. But what about abilities? We all have talents such as teaching, cooking, working with children, music, crafts, carpentry, mechanics and more.

Talents vary widely and are God-given abilities- a knack, if you will, for certain skills. These talents are needed in many areas from churches, soup kitchens, hospitals and nursing homes to orphanages, youth groups, and community centers. Organizations such as these are only a phone call away and many are desperate for any kind of help we can offer them.

#6 Focus

While time, money and talents are important, focus is a gift we should seek fervently. Without focus there is chaos and God is not the author of confusion. (1Cor. 14:33) Many of us tend to let the world overwhelm us to the point that we become bewildered and disoriented. The ability to stay focused allows us to zero in on issues that matter the most and helps us establish proper balance in our lives.

Losing focus is to lose sight of our priorities such as workaholics whose initial priority might have been to provide for their family but somehow they got caught up a destructive pattern. Consequently, those who lose focus like this usually become estranged from family and friend as their work begins to envelop them.

We should pray for God to help us arrange our priorities and never lose focus especially in how we live our lives. According to Paul we are to reflect God in everything we do and always seek his glory. This should be our primary focus and all else will simply fall into place.

#7 Faith

When we practice Godly lives we are displaying our faith which is another gift of God. The more our faith is exercised the more it increases, and just as it is with all other god-given gifts, our faith will decrease if it is not used.

When driving down the highway we have faith that the driver heading toward us will stay in his or her lane. Most of us didn't have this kind of faith when first learning to drive. It was frightening to see cars coming at us. Nevertheless, after practicing it many times our faith increased to where we hardly gave it a second thought.

The Bible says that we can pray for increased faith which a number of people believe will lead to fiery trials. This isn't necessarily true. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. "Now there are diversities of gifts... For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit." (1Cor. 12:8-9)

The gift of faith is very valuable as it strengthens all of our God-given gifts. Strong faith enhances every aspect of our walk with God enabling us to boldly face all trials and temptations. Trials build character and stimulate spiritual growth that leads to patience which is another of God's gifts. Without patience we can become frazzled to the point that we lose focus which leads to chaos. Patience can be practiced and perfected through trials if we allow ourselves to be exercised by them.

# 8 Health

Many of our trials are associated with health and those of us who are given good health should strive to maintain it, otherwise it could be taken away just as any other gift that we neglect. Without health, life is seriously compromised. Having an abundance of gifts such as time, money or knowledge is of little value without our health.

Those of us who have been blessed with such a priceless gift as good health should have compassion for those whose health is inferior and use the strength God has given us to help them any way that we can.

#9 Patience

Patience is valuable in most every walk of life. Impatience stems from self-centered desires to have what we want when we want it or placing our needs and desires above those of others. Countless errors occur when we give in to impatience and often leads to regret.

#10 Knowledge

Having knowledge is certainly valuable and what we have can be cultivated by prayer and study. Knowledge is power. In the Scriptures it is written, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)

Lastly, we should never take the gifts of God for granted but use them to enrich our lives and the lives of those around us. All God-given gifts are valuable but the ones we should desire the most are wisdom, faith, time and focus. When we use our gifts wisely they may be increased but if we fail to use them, they could be taken away.