I have been watching a show on Netflix, the 4400. In a nutshell, 4400 people disappeared from different years and reappeared in present day without aging. The story is that they were abducted by people from the future and let them return to Earth with special abilities both good and bad. It was discovered that these people had a unique component to their blood. Then it was found that this component could be harvested and the general public could choose to be injected with this component . The drawback was that 50% of those who chose to be inject would die. Those 50% who lived developed abilities, again, both good and bad.
I got to thinking that, when we become Christians, through salvation, we all are given special abilities, as well, called spiritual gifts. In Ephesians 4:7, Paul states, ” However, He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.” (NLT)
Paul also writes in 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, be 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 us some 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 when gift each person should have. ” (NLT)
In Romans 12:6-8, Paul writes , “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 encouraging others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. If you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (NLT)
Paul summarizes in 1 Corinthians 31. “So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. (NLT)