Spiritual Gifts

It has been a long while since I had the opportunity to sit in on the 6-8th grade boys’ class time. I was pretty excited to be in on the interaction during their Bible lesson time, and Mr. Todd (6-8th grade boys’ leader) always does such a great job teaching, I think it’s one of his spiritual gifts! Speaking of Spiritual Gifts, the Impact Leadership Academy students started a new study on Sunday. It focused on learning what Spiritual Gifts are and which ones God has blessed each person with.

I really enjoy the way Mr. Todd is organized with his lessons and how smoothly they seem to go. When I joined the class they were in the beginning process of going through each Bible verse together and then picking out the Spiritual Gifts listed in the passages. Here are the passages they read through Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4: 7,8,11,12, I Peter 4:9-11, and I Corinthians 12: 4-11 and 28-30. Mr. Todd had each of these verses written on the chalk board. He also left room to write up the Spiritual Gifts listed in each one.

After reading the verses and writing the gifts on the board, Mr. Todd took some time to ask some questions and look intently at a few of the verses. Mr. Todd asked the boys out of all the gifts written before them which one was the most important and which was the least important. I could sense a bit of confusion in the boys at the questions, but soon they all agreed that there was not one more important than the other and God has gifted each person differently. He also asked “If God gave you a gift, what does he expect you to do with it?” He expects us to use our gifts to serve others and to serve and grow His kingdom. They also learned that all the gifts they have come from God, and no one else. So there is never any reason to try and credit ourselves for the gifts God has given us. Mr. Todd told the boys that throughout their time learning about the different Spiritual Gifts they would be learning what those gifts might be that God has given them. Hear from some of the 6-8th Grade boys as they tell us what they learned from the lesson.

Kenneth – “We all have gifts.”

Icky – “We all have special purposes in life.”

Zach – “I learned that we are supposed to use our gifts to show how God affects us and teach people about him.”

Dylan –“I learned not to judge people by appearances, but judge them by their inner selves.”

All in all I was so impressed with the 6-8th grade boys’ participation and willingness to read, and raise their hands to answer the questions Mr. Todd was asking.