“When we read the Scriptures, we may find that only certain of the biblical saints have personalities similar to our own. We may find it difficult to glean any similarity in our lives with that of certain other saints. This is all OK. There are a variety of gifts which God gives to His saints – each saint doesn’t have all of the spiritual gifts which God gives, but may have only a couple or even one. There are a variety of personalities which God needs to accomplish His plan for our salvation. None of us has to do it all, rather every Christian belongs to the Body of Christ and fulfills his or her own unique role with whatever spiritual gifts God bestows on each of us… each of us is uniquely loved and gifted by God. Each of us has a role to play in God’s plan for the cosmos and God has gifted each of us to fulfill this unique role.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“The Lord knows the heart and the personality of each of us and so he knows whom to choose for the various callings in the church. For example, He knows who is qualified to become apostles, prophets, evangelists, or pastors and teachers (OSB vs. 4-11). The same principle goes for other gifts of the Spirit such as prophecy, caring for others, teaching, encouraging, giving, and leading, etc. (Romans 12:6-8)…These gifts, therefore, are not given to honor those who receive them or to distinguish one member from another. They confer responsibility as the Lord said, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (OSB Luke 12:48).” (Fr. Basil)
“One and the same rain comes down on all the world, yet it becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in the violets and hyacinths, different and many-colored in manifold species. Thus it is one in the palm tree and another in the vine, and all in all things, though it is uniform and does not vary in itself. For the rain does not change, coming down now as one thing and now as another, but it adapts itself to the thing receiving it and becomes what is suitable to each. Similarly the Holy Spirit, being One and of one nature and indivisible, imparts to each one his grace “according as He wills.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
“One person is given the quality of wisdom, another the quality of spiritual knowledge, another the quality of faith, and someone else one of the other gifts of the Spirit enumerated by St. Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11). In the same way, one person receives through the Spirit, according to the degree of his faith, the gift of that perfect and direct love for God which is free from all materiality; another through the same Spirit receives the gift of perfect love for his neighbor; and another receives something else from the same Spirit. In each, as I have said, the gift that conforms with his state is energized. For every capacity for fulfilling a commandment is called a gift of the Spirit.” (St. Maximos the Confessor)
“God accomplishes unity is by bestowing gifts upon each member. We see a rich diversity of such gifts in every church (vs. 4). Some are pastors and teachers, some gifted preachers, some evangelists (Eph 4:11); some exhort others who need direction, others have the means to give liberally, lead diligently, or show mercy with cheerfulness (Rom 12:8). These God-given abilities make the Body of Christ whole.” (Dynamis 7/23/2018)
“GIFTS - Charismatic or spiritual gifts are blessings and abilities given by the holy spirit to believers for the building up of the Body of Christ.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Glossary)
“ 1 Peter 4:10 reads, ‘As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.’ This applies to every person. We are all to use our gifts, that is our talents and abilities given to us by God, to minister to others, that is to meet people’s needs. The grace we receive should be the grace we give, loving others with the abilities we have, and expecting nothing in return.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“Whatever gifts God has given to His people are to be used for the glory of God and in a spirit of love.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Peter 4:7-11)
“As each one has received a gift. Every believer is gifted to serve. stewards. These are managers or trustees who will be held accountable for using their gift in the best interest of the One who gave it to them.” (Foundation Study Bible, 1 Peter 4:10)
“A lamp cannot be kept burning without oil; nor can the light of spiritual gifts continue to shine unless one inwardly sustains it with actions and thoughts consonant with it. For every spiritual gift requires a corresponding inner quality in the recipient to feed it spiritually as though with oil, thus preserving its presence.” (St. Maximos the Confessor)
“Your spiritual gifts are not for your own self-advancement. They were given to you for serving
God and enhancing the spiritual growth of the body of believers…God gives believers spiritual gifts for their lives on earth in order to build up, serve, and strengthen fellow Christians.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:31,13:10-12)
"I have heard Christians insist on concealing their gifts and talents for the sake of their humility. We must be careful that we do not bury our talent in the earth (see Matt. 25:14–30) in the name of false modesty. The saints and fathers of the Church were truly humble, yet they did not run away from their responsibilities. They recognized the gifts God had given them and used them for the good of the Church." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“…we have to get over this clericalist idea that we have a few “religious professionals” whose job it is to serve, to pastor, to educate, and to heal. Clericalism is the natural outgrowth of
Pietism—if Christian life is about my private path to God, then I don’t have a duty to be a “professional” in the Church. I just look to be served by the handful of necessary “professionals” we keep around to get the job done. But this is wrong…we all have different roles..everyone is an active servant in the Church. Everyone is here to help equip and perfect one another.” (Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick)
“God gives us talents and gifts so we can do for one another what He wants to do for us and through us.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
“God accomplishes extraordinary things through ordinary people who believe God can and will use them—imperfections and all." (Donna Partow)
“Jesus Christ, being meek and humble of heart, never strove for adulation but directed all toward the glory of His Father. We also must not parade ourselves or seek recognition. For instance, do you help your neighbors, do you give alms, do you live more piously than those around you, are you wiser than your friends, or are you in some way above others? Do not brag about it. Remember that all your praiseworthy attributes are not yours but gifts of God. Yours are the weaknesses, mistakes and sins." (St. Innocent of Alaska)
“It’s easy to be critical of other people’s skills, but much harder to see the Holy Spirit at work in the gifts and talents of others.” (Lillian Daniel)
“Too often the"up-front” gifts, like speaking or teaching, are more highly regarded than the
“behind-the-scenes” gifts, like helping and serving. No one should discount the contribution of another person, no matter how insignificant it may seem. We should not be dissatisfied with the gift God has given us but be eager to serve. Nor should we envy those who seem to have more gifts than we do. In love, treat everyone’s gift, yours included, as valuable to God.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:23-24)
“Rather than wishing you had other gifts, make good use of the gifts God has given you.” (Life Application Study Bible, Acts 9:36-42)
“We are to desire or want the gifts of the Spirit, but pursue the love of God.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 14:1)
“Our gifts and talents are the things people celebrate about us, but we find to be no big deal, because the ability comes naturally to us. That is why it is called a gift." (Michelle McKinney Hammond)
“We see a rich diversity of such gifts in every church (1 Corinthians 12:4). Some are pastors and teachers, some gifted preachers, some evangelists (Eph 4:11); some exhort others who need direction, others have the means to give liberally, lead diligently, or show mercy with cheerfulness (Rom 12:8). These God-given abilities make the Body of Christ whole.” (Dynamis
“A lamp cannot be kept burning without oil; nor can the light of spiritual gifts continue to shine unless one inwardly sustains it with actions and thoughts consonant with it.” (St. Maximus the Confessor)
"A humble person does not refuse to use his abilities for the good of the Church, nor does he use the Church as an excuse to appease his ego. If you hide the gifts you have been given in order to appear humble, then you are very proud indeed. Wishing to appear humble is the worst form of pride. When we have detached ourselves from our sense of self-importance, then we are free to make use of our talents without fear of sin.” (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“We can be divisive if we insist on using our gifts our own way without being sensitive to others. We must never use our gifts as a means of manipulating others or serving our own self-interest.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31)
“No one can claim to be adequate without God’s help. No one is competent to carry out the responsibilities of God’s calling in his or her strength. Without the Holy Spirit’s enabling, our natural talent can carry us only so far.” (Life Application Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 3:4-5)
“From an ability to teach to the gift of prayer; from a flair for music to a means of helping the poor, we are all called to recognize what our gifts and abilities are. This means that the first step to increasing our talent of grace is to recognize that we have virtues and abilities in the first place. No one is"talentless”...each person shall be judged not by how many talents he has received, but by whether he has increased them.” (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
"But normally God calls us to Himself and leads us into particular expressions of service appropriate for our gifts and talents through our passions, abilities, and opportunities. And that work we do…becomes part of the all-embracing summons of God to belong to Him, to live in a suitable manner, and to 'do the Lord's work.' So we can say that working in business is a calling in this general sense: It is one way in which we can do good work in the world and serve our neighbor - these being part of God's call." (R. Paul Stevens)
"Genesis chapter one is all about work. God sanctified work and demonstrated its importance through His own action of doing it…God’s first action is also creating. The famous author J.R.R. Tolkien said that through our work and what we create we are acting as a reflection of God and actually doing God’s will because we are"sub-creators” using the talents, abilities, aptitudes and desires He gave us. It doesn’t matter if it is art, writing, painting, engineering and scientific feats, gardening around your house, or even chores. When we apply our minds and talents to any task to the best of our ability, in service of others, and with integrity, we are reflecting God.” (Sacramental Living)
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