The short answer
Spiritual gifts are abilities given by the Holy Spirit to Christians so that they can build up the church and serve others. The apostle Paul lists them in several places — teaching, prophecy, healing, wisdom, serving, giving, leadership and speaking in tongues among them — and insists that they all flow from one source: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (1 Corinthians 12:4). A spiritual gift, in Christian understanding, is “a supernatural grace that individual Christians need to fulfill the mission of the Church” (Spiritual gift, overview).
The gifts are a frequent source of both wonder and confusion. Some Christians emphasise the dramatic gifts; others rarely mention them; and few topics divide churches as sharply as speaking in tongues. This article sets out what the Bible actually teaches, explains the gift of tongues clearly, looks honestly at why Christians disagree, and considers how the Divine Principle understands the work of the Spirit. The gifts make little sense apart from the event that released them — see what happened at Pentecost.
What the Bible lists as gifts
Scripture gives several lists of spiritual gifts, and no single list is meant to be exhaustive — the point is the variety, not a fixed catalogue. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul names wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues and the interpretation of tongues. In Romans 12 he adds serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading and showing mercy. In Ephesians 4 he lists roles — apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers — given to equip the church. Taken together, the gifts range from the quiet and practical to the strikingly supernatural.
Two principles hold the lists together. First, the gifts are given “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7) — they are tools for service, not trophies for the gifted. Second, they form one body: Paul compares the church to a body in which eye, hand and foot each have a different function and none can say to the others, “I don’t need you” (1 Corinthians 12:21). The diversity is deliberate. A church where everyone had the same gift would be as useless as a body that was all eye. This is part of why there is such variety in the wider church — see why there are so many Christian denominations.
The gift of tongues, explained
Speaking in tongues is a gift in which a believer speaks in a language they have not learned — and the Bible describes it in more than one form. At Pentecost it took the form of real human languages: foreign pilgrims heard the disciples “declaring the wonders of God” in their own native tongues (Acts 2:11). In 1 Corinthians, Paul describes a different dimension — a form of prayer and praise directed to God that needs interpretation to benefit a congregation (1 Corinthians 14:2, 13). As one survey puts it, “there is probably no spiritual gift that is so discussed or so misunderstood” (Bible Study Tools).
Paul treats tongues as genuine but places firm boundaries on it. In public worship, he teaches, tongues should be interpreted so that others are built up, and he would “rather speak five intelligible words… than ten thousand words in a tongue” where no one understands (1 Corinthians 14:19). The gift is real and good in its place; but Paul is clear that edifying the whole church matters more than any individual experience. That balance — honouring the gift while ordering it toward love — is the heart of his teaching.
Why the gifts divide churches
Christians mainly divide over whether the dramatic gifts — tongues, prophecy and healing — are still given today. Those called cessationists hold that these particular gifts served to confirm the apostolic message and ceased once the New Testament was complete. Continuationists, including Pentecostal and charismatic churches, hold that all the gifts continue and are meant for the church in every age. There is further debate over the nature of tongues — whether it refers to real languages, to ecstatic utterance, or to a private prayer language. These disagreements are long-standing and sincere on every side.
It helps to see what the debate is not about. No major Christian tradition denies that the Holy Spirit gives gifts; the question is how and which gifts today. It is worth holding the disagreement with humility, because Paul warns against both extremes — against despising the gifts (“do not treat prophecies with contempt,” 1 Thessalonians 5:20) and against exalting the showy ones over the humble ones. A church that argues about gifts while neglecting love has, by Paul’s own measure, missed the point entirely.
The test Paul gives: love
Paul places the famous chapter on love in the very middle of his teaching on spiritual gifts, as the test by which every gift is measured. Immediately after listing the gifts, he writes: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong… if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1–2). The gifts, however impressive, are worthless without love. This is not a detour in Paul’s argument; it is the argument.
That reframes the whole question. The point of a spiritual gift is never the gift itself but the love it is meant to serve. Paul calls love “the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31) and tells the Corinthians to “eagerly desire the greater gifts” — meaning those that build others up. A quiet gift of mercy exercised in love outranks a spectacular gift exercised in pride. For what this kind of love actually is, see what true love means.
Spiritual gifts in the Divine Principle
The Divine Principle treats spiritual gifts as real workings of the Holy Spirit, given to help believers grow — but it keeps them firmly in their place as means rather than ends. In the Principle’s understanding, the Spirit was poured out after the resurrection to give people spiritual rebirth and to guide them toward God. Gifts of the Spirit are part of that guiding work. Yet they are not proofs of spiritual rank or guarantees of maturity. A person may have a striking gift and still have far to grow in heart and character.
This matches Paul’s own emphasis. What God is ultimately forming is not gifted individuals but a community of mature love united with him — which is why the measure of any gift is whether it deepens true love and builds up others. Gifts serve the growth of the person and the restoration of the community; they are not the goal. Seen this way, the right question is never “which gifts do I have?” so much as “am I using whatever I have been given to love?” For the Spirit who gives the gifts, see who the Holy Spirit is, and for how growth itself works, the three stages of growth.
Frequently asked questions
What are spiritual gifts?
Spiritual gifts are abilities given by the Holy Spirit to Christians for the building up of the church and the service of others. Paul lists them in passages such as 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4, and they include teaching, prophecy, healing, wisdom, serving, giving, leading and speaking in tongues. Paul stresses that they come from one Spirit and are given “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7), not for personal status.
What is the gift of speaking in tongues?
Speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift in which a believer speaks in a language they have not learned. At Pentecost this took the form of real human languages understood by foreign pilgrims (Acts 2). In 1 Corinthians, Paul also describes a prayer and praise form that needs interpretation to benefit the church. Christians disagree over whether tongues today are earthly languages, a heavenly prayer language, or both.
Why do spiritual gifts divide Christians?
The main division is over whether the more dramatic gifts, such as tongues, prophecy and healing, are still given today. Cessationists believe these gifts ceased after the apostolic age, while continuationists and Pentecostal and charismatic churches believe they continue. There is also debate over the exact nature of tongues. The disagreement is real, but it is about how the Spirit works, not whether he works.
How can I know my spiritual gift?
The Bible does not give a formula, but it gives direction: gifts are discovered in service, confirmed by the church, and marked by love. Pay attention to where you are able to help others and where fruit follows, ask mature believers what they see in you, and remember Paul’s point that the greatest gift is not the most spectacular but the one exercised in love (1 Corinthians 13).
What does the Divine Principle say about spiritual gifts?
The Divine Principle sees spiritual gifts as real workings of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out after the resurrection to give believers spiritual rebirth and to guide them. Gifts are understood as means to a greater end — growth in heart and character and the building of a community united with God — rather than as proofs of spiritual rank. The measure of any gift is whether it deepens true love.