"Oh, shoot! I missed it."

The opportunity was right there, but I wasn't paying attention.

God had arranged the moment, but I didn't see what He was doing. Even worse, He had already given me the tools I needed and taught me the heart behind using them well. But because my eyes weren't open, I let the opportunity slip by.

Have you ever had one of those moments? You look back and realize, I could have encouraged that person. I could have stepped in to help. I could have shared what God was showing me. I could have used what He gave me—but I missed it.

And honestly, wasting what God has given us can almost feel like a crime. Maybe my interest in murder mysteries influences me too much, but as I thought about spiritual gifts, three familiar words kept coming to mind:

Means. Motive. Opportunity.

The Means

A reel popped up on my feed recently featuring an audition from Britain's Got Talent. Every now and then, I enjoy watching people step onto a stage, hoping for the opportunity that might change their lives.

The best auditions often have three things in common.

First, the person has the means. They possess a remarkable talent or ability.

Second, they have a motive. They know why they sing, dance, perform magic, or pursue their craft. There is passion behind what they do.

Third, they have been waiting for an opportunity—a stage where they can finally use what they have been given.

The video I watched featured Sydnie Christmas performing her arrangement of "Tomorrow" during the 2024 season of Britain's Got Talent. Her control, creativity, and ability were incredible. It was the kind of performance that makes you smile from the inside out and immediately want to watch it again and again. (Watch her incredible audition HERE.)

She was clearly using a God-given talent.

But as amazing as natural talent can be, Scripture describes something even more remarkable: Spirit-enabled gifts expressed through God's people.

Spiritual gifts are divine enablements given by the Holy Spirit through which God works in us and through us for the good of others.

Spiritual gifts may overlap with natural abilities, but they are more than things we happen to be good at. They are ways the Holy Spirit empowers us to strengthen, serve, encourage, guide, and build up the body of Christ.

God provides the means.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. —1 Corinthians 12:4

Spiritual gifts do not begin with us. We do not create them, manufacture them, or earn them. God gives them, God empowers them, and God owns the results.

The Motive

This is where spiritual gifts are different from simply showcasing talent.

Talents can be used for many purposes—including attention, applause, influence, or personal success. Spiritual gifts, however, are specifically given to serve others and build up the body of Christ.

Paul begins 1 Corinthians 14 with these words:

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts. —1 Corinthians 14:1

Notice the order.

Pursue love. Desire the gifts.

God does not give us gifts so that we can appear important, impressive, powerful, or spiritually superior. He gives gifts so that we can love and serve people.

Love is the motive.

Without love, even the most dramatic spiritual experience becomes empty noise. That is why 1 Corinthians 13 sits right in the middle of Paul's teaching on spiritual gifts. Gifts without love can draw attention to the person using them. Gifts motivated by love draw attention to Jesus and bring strength to His people.

A great example of this happened at New Life this week.

Our staff members rotate leading the devotional during Staff Chapel. This week, our wonderful Global Outreach Coordinator, Ali Vanderbeck, shared the teaching.

Our team consistently shares good, solid biblical truth, but as Ali taught, I kept thinking, She is really gifted at this.

She did not simply communicate information. God used her words to bring clarity, encouragement, and truth to our team. Afterward, I told her how gifted she was—and half-joked that she could feel free to take all of my chapel weeks too!

God had given her the means to teach, love for our team shaped her motive, and Staff Chapel provided the opportunity.

Part of pursuing spiritual gifts is recognizing and encouraging the gifts God has placed in other people. A healthy church does not merely identify gifted people; it encourages them, develops them, and gives them room to serve.

Sometimes using our own gifts means stepping forward. Other times, it means getting out of the way so that someone else has room to use theirs.

The goal is not for me to be seen.

The goal is for the church to be built up.

The Opportunity

God provides the means. Love provides the motive. But we must also be alert to the opportunity.

Paul writes:

When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. —1 Corinthians 14:26

Paul expected followers of Jesus to gather ready to contribute.

Not everyone would contribute in the same way. Not everyone would have the same gift. But each person could come prepared for the Holy Spirit to work through them.

That means spiritual gifts are not meant to remain abstract ideas that we discuss in Bible studies. They are meant to be practiced in real relationships, real churches, and real moments of need.

Sometimes the opportunity looks dramatic. More often, it appears ordinary.

It may be the person sitting alone who needs encouragement.

It may be the struggling family who needs practical help.

It may be the friend who needs wisdom.

It may be a child who needs patient care.

It may be a church gathering where God has given you something that could strengthen someone else.

We have a friend who helps care for our daughter, who has special needs. The way this friend serves her goes beyond ordinary kindness. God has given her a remarkable capacity to notice, understand, help, and care for our daughter in a way that feels unmistakably Spirit-enabled.

God has provided the means, love supplies the motive, and every need becomes an opportunity to serve.

The opportunity may not come with bright lights, a microphone, or a stage. It may come through a conversation, a meal, a prayer, a hospital visit, a classroom, a hallway, or an unnoticed act of service.

But when God gives the means, shapes the motive, and opens the opportunity, something beautiful happens:

The Holy Spirit works through ordinary people to display the extraordinary love of Jesus.

Don't Miss the Moment

It would be a tragedy—maybe even a spiritual crime—to possess the means, understand the motive, and continually overlook the opportunity.

God has given gifts to His people.

But the goal is not simply to identify our gift. The goal is to become available to God whenever and wherever He wants to use it.

The question is not merely, Do I believe spiritual gifts are real?

The better questions are:

What has God given me?

Is love truly my motive?

Where is He giving me an opportunity to use it?

Let's not waste the means God has provided because our motives have become self-centered.

Let's not waste a loving motive because fear keeps us from stepping forward.

And let's not miss the opportunities God places in front of us because our eyes are closed or our attention is somewhere else.

God may already be placing the opportunity in front of us.

God supplies the means.

Love shapes the motive.

Faithfulness responds to the opportunity.

Let's keep our eyes open—and be willing to step into whatever God places in front of us.