Unlocking the Gifts of the Holy Spirit for Entrepreneurs
Today, I want to talk about the gifts of the holy spirit in entrepreneurship.
God gave us business owners access to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Imagine what we could do in the marketplace if we had gifts of healing, prophecy, tongues, interpretation, the Word of knowledge, the Word of wisdom, the working of miracles, and the discerning of spirits.
Just reading those gifts, my brain is already running wild on how to profit from these gifts.
However, we can't work for these gifts, we can't buy them, and we can't choose them like picking your favorite color of Starburst candy. In the Holy Spirit, we are given the fullness of grace. This means that accessing specific gifts of the Spirit isn't accomplished by anything we do or don't do.
They are gifts, and similar to gifts we receive from friends and family for our birthday, we only receive gifts because there was a loving relationship established with the giver of that gift.
If we want to unlock the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it will only be accomplished in one way: our entirely focused love and devotion to Jesus.
HOW I TAPPED INTO THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
In 2014, I rebuilt my branding agency from the ground up. The Holy Spirit gave me the power to personally change my identity from a nightclub promoter to a follower of Jesus.
Once I followed Jesus, the Spirit convicted me of sin in my business, and I began turning away from anything that didn't glorify Him.
I was becoming a Godpreneur, leading a God-first entrepreneurial walk. I was seeing my job as a branding expert from a whole new perspective.
Without even trying, I started loving my job and my clients in a whole new way. I cared about the success of their business and the overall purpose of their entrepreneurial walk.
And then, something weird happened. Almost magically, I began to receive inspiration from God on what to say to my clients, and I spoke vision into their future.
What I didn't realize at the time was…I was prophesying into their business life. Out of nowhere, the gift of prophecy came over me. Without me trying, and out of pure love for my clients' success, the gifts of the Holy Spirit started to shine through me.
THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES GIFTS TO THE ENTREPRENEUR
When we Godpreneurs give our lives to Jesus and commit to sanctification personally and in our businesses. We open ourselves up for God to use us in the marketplace through the Holy Spirit.
How do we tap into the gifts of the spirit in our business? How do we recognize them?
The Bible specifies what gifts can and do become visible and possible in each of us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)
Jesus gave diversities of gifts to His disciples through the Holy Spirit;
healing
prophecy
tongues and interpretation
the Word of knowledge
the Word of wisdom
working of miracles
discerning of spirits
The Holy Spirit works these gifts in you for the profit of all your clients, prospects, employees, vendors, and contractors - in your given marketplace. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) You use them in your business to edify Christ’s earthly body.
TAPPING INTO THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
You may desire to identify and use the gifts of the spirit on your entrepreneurial journey, but how?
Paul exhorted to desire the best gifts but spoke about a more excellent way. He described the qualities of love and said that without them, you are nothing.
“Love suffers long, and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own; is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
The key to tapping into your spiritual gifts is to measure ourselves against the divine qualities of love, and let the Holy Spirit work with you, that you can come to them in truth.
Remember my story of how I gained the gift of prophecy? I believe it was my love for God, and through that, my love for my clients and their success ultimately led to the gift of the spirit to be used through me.
We all have the possibility of an extraordinary calling, an amazing glory, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
“… to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Imagine if our entrepreneurial journey led us to be humbled deeply under God’s mighty hand, through the leading of His Spirit, so grace comes over us so that we come to this fullness.
What if the businesses God created us to start were based on the gifts of the Spirit, instead of trying to fit the gifts into a business we want to start?
My prayer is that all of us would do as Paul exhorted Timothy: meditate on these things, give ourselves entirely to them, that our progress may be evident to all. (1 Timothy 4:15.)