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HOW TO IDENTIFY CHILDREN'S SPIRITUAL GIFTS
| This topic is interesting, as many people seem to believe that spirituality is a respecter of age. They believe that maturity in Christianity starts from a certain age. Even churches are divided on what they call the "age of understanding." | |
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These comments usually surface during children's dedication or baptism. In our Churches, the term "children" refers to those between ages 1 day to 17 years. Of course, at the age of 13 teenagers start distancing themselves from the word "children"… thus the creation of teenage classes by churches. Of course, in the secular world, 18 years is considered as the age of freedom and reasonableness. Thus in Nigeria, at 18 one can vote and be voted for. But this is not our area of focus for now. The scripture does not stipulate how old one can be before serving God or how old one should be to enter the Kingdom of God. The Question is do children also have spiritual gifts? |
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Children and Spiritual Gifts
Of course, our manual for this
answer would be based on the
word of God - the Bible. There are
several references in the Bible as
concerns Children but we will pick only few
relevant ones to guide us in this journey of
discovery.
At the age of 12 we are told in Luke 2:52 that
Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. Of course,
wisdom is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Note that Jesus Christ, our Lord, had all the 21
gifts.
The King James Version of the Bible says in 1 John 4:4 "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." The New Living Translation is even more explicit or clearer. It says, "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." This shows that the Bible recognizes little children as spiritual. The most assuring verse is where Jesus told the disciples to allow children come to him. "Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."(Matthew 19:14). And in verse 15 of the same chapter, we are told that Jesus blessed the Children by placing his hand on them. Interestingly, in an earlier encounter, Jesus had told the disciples that people with child-like attitudes were the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And He said in Matthew 18:4-5: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." And in verse 6, Jesus went ahead to say, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." This means that little children can also be believers and are qualified for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the last days, God says, I will poor out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams (Acts 2:17NIV). That means as believers, Christian children also have the gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as the nine fruit of the Spirit. It should therefore be the aspiration and responsibility of parents and the church to pray and teach children the need to be baptized both with water and in the Holy Ghost as directed by our Lord Jesus Christ. By this, our children will contribute in the expansion of the kingdom of God as members of the body of Christ in our churches and the society. Timothy is a typical example of a teenager or youth pastor who worked with Paul. He received the baptism of the Holy Spirit right from his mother's womb and became a great man of God. How do we know? The Bibles tells us through Paul in 2Timothy 1: 5-6: "I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying of hands." There are children with spiritual gifts like Timothy. Note that God has plan for your life the day you were conceived (Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalms 139:12-14). In the Bible, we read of children that were born with the purpose to serve God such as Jesus, John the Baptist, Samson, Samuel, Timothy and others. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb (Luke 1:15). These are pointers that small children can have the Holy Spirit in them. Discovering Children's Spiritual Gifts Even in our present generation, there are children showing signs that God's hand is already on them. They give special wisdom, visions and abilities. The issue is that every believing child or teenager has a Spiritual gift as a member of the Church. It is therefore the duty of parents, Sunday school teachers, other Church members as well as pastors to identify such gifts in the children, develop and use the gifts to serve God. The issue is to help the children discover what is unique about each of them especially the spiritual gift s that lay dormant inside them that could be developed to bring glory to God. It is not just to identify the gifts but also to develop such gifts for service to the church and to bring glory to the Almighty God. Moreso, with the rise in children molestation and abuses, as we leave them at home alone with all sorts of characters and the new technology, we need to arm them spiritually to resist the wicked abusers who always put fear in children that disclosures could lead to death. Let them know that God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind (2Timothy 1:7). As children leaders, we have the responsibility of helping to develop the next wave of the army of God. The Movers and shakers of God's Kingdom now and in the future are the children's church ministry and therefore recognizing and developing gifts in our kids should be one of our chief endeavors(Mimi Bullock. www.ministry-70-children.com) . Practical Steps to Identify Spiritual Gifts in Children. It should however be noted that there is a difference between natural talent or ability and spiritual gifts. Ministers should, therefore, look beyond natural talents and bring out the spiritual gifts in our Children based on Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11- 12 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-28). It is these gifts that enable children as well as adults to fulfill their purpose and assignments on earth according to the will of God. To identify Spiritual gifts, it is pertinent to know that these gifts become more recognizable with growth and maturity of the children in reasoning and stature. The spiritual gifts are grouped into three functions: Operations (Romans 12:6-8); Administration (Ephesians 4:11-12) and manifestations (I Corinthians 12:4-11). The steps to recognize the spiritual gifts in Children are: (1) Study the word of God to understand spiritual gifts; (2) Pray and ask God to give you wisdom and discernment; (3) Confer with the pastors and other staff on your plan for the children; (4) Listen to the Children by spending more time with them. Be an active listener when interacting with kids. Listen to their hopes and dreams; (5) Ask the Holy Spirit questions about each child; and then teach about spiritual gifts on regular basis. Challenge the children to identify their own gifts by asking God personally. With these step, spiritual gifts of children could be identified, developed and put into use for the growth of the church, society and to the glory of God. Obadiah Tohomdet Sunday school Teacher Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Garki, Abuja | |