Prideful & Gifted:

When we speak of being gifted and full of pride, we think of Satan before he fell from heaven. Ezekiel 28 says his heart was filled with pride because of all his beauty. Satan was an anointed and mighty angelic guardian, but the light and beauty of his gifts and calling blinded him. Iniquity was found in his heart and he was cast out of heaven and brought down low. When he fell he didn’t lose his gifts. He just remained prideful and gifted.

How many times have we seen people in ministry that are full of pride and yet operating in the gifts and calling of God. Romans 11:29 says The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. When God calls us or gives us a gift it means they are irrevocable and cannot be taken away. Matthew 7 tells us that not everyone who has spiritual gifts will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. On Judgment Day many will say, “Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name, but God will reply, I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.”

We Will Know Them By Their Fruit:

It is very sad to see people in ministry that are gifted to prophesy, heal the sick and work miracles but their character does not reflect the character of God. We must stop looking at people in awe for the gifts they operate in and start looking at the kind of fruit they produce. I have heard many people say we are not supposed to judge or be fruit inspectors, but the Book of Matthew instructs us to beware of false prophets who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. We will know them by their fruits.

We have to ask ourselves what type of fruit we are producing. When others come to us to receive from us, what are they tasting? Is our gift beautiful on the outside but when they bite into it they taste bitterness, strife, hatred and confusion. Psalms 38:4 says “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” This should be our indication that we are to represent Christ not only on the outside, but on the inside as well. It is not enough to be flowing in the gifts of God, but we must also show forth good fruit. Just as we can identify a tree by its fruit, we can also identify people by their actions.

Pride Blinds & Hides:

When we see people focusing solely on their gifts and never trying to change their character to line up with Christ, we will always find the spirit of pride hiding and lurking in the background. Pride will blind us into thinking that we can operate in the gifts of the Spirit without having the character of God. Pride is very sneaky and it loves to hide. Pride is a strongman spirit and it will hide behind other lesser spirits so it can remain undetected and exposed. If we are not careful, pride will sneak into our hearts and cause us to be puffed up that demons are subject to us. We must realize that if it weren’t for the Name of Jesus, those demons would rip us apart!

The seven sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva were trying to cast an evil spirit out of a man and they had no relationship with Jesus and the evil spirit spoke to them and replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you? Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.

Rejoice Not In The Gift:

In the Book of Luke, the Lord chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them out in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. When the seventy-two disciples returned, they were so excited and they said “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” The Lord looked at them, I’m sure so calmly and He told them “Yes, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them and nothing will hurt you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you, rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

In order for us to truly be effective in ministry we must always represent the character of Jesus. We must continually walk in love and display the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.