Gifts of the Spirit Talk

I gave a talk yesterday on Gifts of the Spirit. In case you're just dying to read it, I'm posting it here:
(And if you have no desire to read it, just disregard and move on.)

Gifts of the Spirit
Feb. 8, 2009

Last Sunday the Bishop called and asked me to speak on Feb. 22nd, which is two weeks from now. I said, “Darn it all, I’m going to be out of town on that day.” He told me he already had the rest of the month planned out, so he’d have to catch me another time. To which I replied, quite cleverly, I thought, “Any time I’m going to be out of town, just give me a call.”
Of course, he had the last laugh, because he called 3 hours later and said he had a cancellation for this Sunday and would I like to take the opportunity to speak. Out of good excuses, I agreed.
This talk has come together for me in an interesting way, and so I wanted to share with you my journey in preparing the talk, and hopefully it will be profitable to you. This breaks one of my personal rules for talk-giving, by the way. In fact, this talk breaks MANY of my “rules”. But it’s how the talk came to me, so that’s how I’m going to give it.
The topic he gave me is Gifts of the Spirit. I informed him that I was vastly unqualified to speak on this topic. He was, of course, unmoved.
There are some topics that are easy to speak on. One year I was given the topic of Gratitude and I thought, “Oh, I can talk on Gratitude all day. I’m so grateful for so many things.” But spiritual gifts? That’s a hard topic. But the Apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 12: “Now concerning spiritual gifts … I would not have you ignorant.” And Elder Oaks said, “We know too little about spiritual gifts. This is evident in our communications, and it is also evident in our failure to seek after and use spiritual gifts.” No kidding. I know too little about spiritual gifts, and it’ll probably be evident in this communication.
I got off the phone, thought for a while, and then said to Rob, “I think I’m going to say in my talk, “My gift of the Spirit is that I have absolutely NO gifts of the Spirit.”
Of course the scriptures have something to say about that: D&C 46:11 says “To every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.”
And Marvin J. Ashton, an Apostle, said it this way:
“One of the great tragedies of life, it seems to me, is when a person classifies himself as someone who has no talents or gifts. When, in disgust or discouragement, we allow ourselves to reach depressive levels of despair because of our demeaning self-appraisal, it is a sad day for us and a sad day in the eyes of God. For us to conclude that we have no gifts when we judge ourselves by stature, intelligence, grade-point average, wealth, power, position, or external appearance is not only unfair but unreasonable.”
I read that and had to laugh. Ouch! to my lack of self-esteem. But I think we’ve all been there are one time or another: when we feel untalented or ungifted.
Generally, I have to admit, I am a pretty confident person. I know I have many talents and gifts. One of those is NOT humility, but one of them IS honesty, so I guess it all works out. The problem comes when I think about SPIRITUAL gifts. Those are a different category.
So after I told Rob that I had no gifts of the Spirit, he of course said I did. I responded with, “Yeah, but some people seem to have so many, and I can’t even think of one that I have.” He said, “Some people may have a gift that is more obvious, but I’m not sure they have a lot more than other people.” I said, “Yeah, but Joseph Smith had like ALL of them.” At this point I think Rob rolled his eyes. And said, “You can’t compare yourself to Joseph Smith! He was the prophet that opened this dispensation. He had Moses and Peter, James, and John, and others come to him and confer keys. You just CAN’T compare yourself to Joseph Smith.”
Well, you CAN compare yourself to Joseph Smith. You’ll just probably end up feeling like a loser.
I just finished reading a book about Joseph Smith. It’s not published by the Church, so I won’t endorse it by name over the pulpit. (That's one of my rules that I WON'T break today.) But I LOVED it. I came away with an increased awe and respect for the man and who he was. For his religious genius. I came away thinking, “He was SO gifted.”
The other day my 4-year-old son summed up my feelings really well. He said, “Mom, when we pray in the woods, Heavenly Father comes.” I thought for a minute about that and then said, “Well, Heavenly Father doesn’t usually come, but that’s what happened to Joseph Smith, huh?” He nodded. “Yeah. How do you DO that?” … It was a great opportunity for me to bear testimony of Joseph Smith, but it was also a moment where I thought, “Good question. I don’t know how you do that!” It’s never happened to me.
When you read the scriptural list of spiritual gifts in D&C 46, the list is followed by this verse: “Unto some it may be given to have all those gifts, that there may be a head, in order that every member may be profited thereby.” THAT was Joseph Smith.
Most of us, however, are in a different category. I think most of us are like me, knowing we have a spiritual gift, since the scriptures say that every member has one, but unsure of what that gift might be.
And I found myself continually running into a problem. What qualifies as a Spiritual Gift, and what is just a normal Gift?
In the scriptures it says that there are MANY spiritual gifts, and it almost gives the impression that there are many more that COULD be listed. Almost like they didn’t have room for ALL the gifts.
Some of these gifts are very impressive gifts like:
The Working of Miracles.
Speaking in tongues.
And the gift of beholding of angels and ministering spirits.
But some of them are very simple, yet just as powerful gifts, like:
The gift of faith.
The gift of knowledge.
And the gift of Wisdom.

A talk from Marvin J. Ashton gives a list of “less conspicuous but very important gifts” that includes things that I wouldn’t have thought of as spiritual gifts at all:
The gift of asking.
The gift of listening.
The gift of hearing and using a still, small voice.
Being able to weep.
Avoiding contention.
Being agreeable.
Avoiding vain repetition.
Seeking that which is righteous.
Not passing judgment.
Looking for God for guidance.
The gift of being a disciple.
The gift of caring for others.
Being able to ponder.
Offering prayer.
Bearing a mighty testimony.
And the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost.

I think a lot of those gifts might sound a little more familiar to us.

As I was thinking about spiritual gifts and these lists, I started thinking about the all-round set of gifts and talents that I’ve been given. Some of them aren’t very spiritual in nature. But sometimes I think that line is blurry, and it’s hard to tell which is a Spiritual Gift and which is just a plain Gift.
For instance: I had this thought about Nauvoo. When converts came flooding into Nauvoo, Joseph would utilize the talents of those coming into the area, and turn those talents towards building up the kingdom of God. Is being a brick-layer, for example, in and of itself, a spiritual gift? Well, no. But can it be used for spiritual purposes? Sure.

And it came to me sort of like this: We have been asked to seek after the best gifts.
Kind of like how we’ve been asked to learn from the best books.
There are all kinds of books out there. There are books that are clearly spiritual in nature, like the scriptures. Then there are books written by or about the leaders of the Church. There are historical books. There are funny books. There are murder mystery books. There’s Shakespeare. There are all kinds of books.
As we have been asked to seek out of the best books, we have been asked to cultivate spiritual gifts.

So how do we do that? I’m going to give a simple version of the answer, because it really is a simple thing:
First, you might take stock of what you already have. As I look over the list of spiritual gifts, there are gifts that I might not feel that I have all the time, but there are many gifts that I have experienced at one time or another, and some that I’ve experienced repeatedly. These are gifts that perhaps come more easily to me than other gifts. Maybe that’s a good place to start. Marvin J. Ashton says “It is up to each of us to search for and build upon the gifts which God has given.” So you already have at least one. Search it out. Pray. Read your patriarchal blessing. Pray some more.
It can also be helpful to ask a close friend, your spouse, or a parent: someone who knows you very well. Sometimes it is easier for someone else to see your spiritual gifts. When I asked Rob what he thought some of mine were, he came up with one that I wouldn’t have thought of as a Spiritual Gift; it’s just the way I am. Well, maybe that’s a gift.
Second, live a righteous life. Keep the commandments. Do what you’re supposed to do. Period.
And third, seek these gifts for the right reasons. We are given spiritual gifts to build up the kingdom and serve others, not so we can look cool in front of our friends.

Another key to understanding spiritual gifts is understanding that they are GIFTS. While some gifts might be innate and come to us more naturally than others, some might come wholly unexpectedly, out of need. Some gifts, though, might not come at all. I have prayed many, many times for a gift that never came. Heavenly Father is the one who determines which gifts He will bless us with. It is not up to us. It is a GIFT. And we need to acknowledge that, and not try to tell Him how to do His job.

This last week, as I’ve been focused on this talk and this topic, I have been very grateful for the spiritual gifts I have been blessed with. The moments where I have known these spiritual gifts have been some of the most sacred moments of my life. Our Heavenly Father loves us, and as a good friend often says, “He sent us here to succeed.” This is why He has given us Spiritual Gifts. Because He will not leave us alone in our time of need. There are times when we need more help than normal. There are times when we need more direction that we can reasonably come up with on our own. And in these moments, if we are worthy, we will be endowed with Spiritual Gifts, and we will know of the great love that He has for us.
I am grateful for the restoration of the Gospel, and for Joseph Smith and his prayer as a 14-year-old boy. He was humble enough, and faithful enough to search for an answer. And because of that one prayer, and the events that followed, we are able to experience the great joy of the Gospel. What an amazing gift. I hope we do not take it lightly.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.