Talents or Spiritual Gifts

Giftedness and talent are not synonymous. We use the terms as though they are because our understanding is muddled. Talents may be innate, propensities at birth, developed, or both. God's relationship to our talents, therefore, may be the same as to our breathing. As such, talents are not specifically oriented toward God's use. They may be used in such a way, may, and will find their ultimate fulfillment in God's glory, but are not, specifically, given for that spiritual service in edifying the body of Christ or His Spirit.

Giftedness, on the other hand, is the means by which God specifically equips you and me for service in edifying the Church in order to fulfill the work of the Church through us. As opposed to talents, spiritual gifts may come and go; they may move to the forefront of God's work through us, or be replaced by other gifts and the former may be shifted to the background. God the Holy Spirit makes that determination according to godly volition.

It is not the nature of a gift to divide or to elevate itself above others. In fact the term "love" or "charity" in I Corinthians 13 may be replaced with the term "spiritual gift" in order to establish a great description of God's intended purpose behind giftedness. A spiritual gift bears the marks of the "fruits of the spirit".

Both talents and gifts, if abused, may be used to divide, emphasize the individual, puff a person up, and become a stumbling block to others.