Mission Finder Podcast #35 | Season 2
Hosts: Andrew Michael Arroyo & Don Nava
Andrew Arroyo and Don Nava open this episode with a question every believer eventually asks: how do you use your spiritual gifts well while still growing in Christlike character? The answer, they argue, is that gifts and fruit were never meant to operate alone — you need both.
Gifts Like Natural Talents
Andrew compares spiritual gifts to natural ones: just as athletes seek out mentors to sharpen a skill, believers grow by leaning on others who are strong where they’re weak.
What Marks a Spirit-Filled Life
Andrew outlines five marks of gifts rightly exercised: humility, recognizing gifts come from God, not personal achievement (1 Corinthians 4:7); love, the greatest gift of all (1 Corinthians 13); edification, using gifts to build up the church rather than promote yourself (1 Corinthians 14:12); order, operating within the church decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40); and discernment, testing every manifestation against Scripture (1 John 4:1).
Love Is the Foundation
Quoting 1 Corinthians 13:1 — “though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” — Andrew reminds listeners that gifts without love are empty noise. Charles Spurgeon put it starkly: gifts without grace are “like a dead child decorated with flowers.” D.L. Moody’s words echo the same truth: “there is no power on earth that can stand before love.”
Five Steps Toward Integration
Andrew offers a practical path for growing both fruit and gifts together: regularly examine your character and spiritual empowerment side by side; pursue both through spiritual disciplines and active practice; stay accountable within a community of believers; seek out service that requires both Christlike character and supernatural power; and keep learning from believers — like Smith Wigglesworth and Heidi Baker — who model both well.
The Payoff of Balance
When fruit and gifts grow together, Andrew and Don say the results are unmistakable: believers become authentic witnesses of Christ, their ministry meets both spiritual and practical needs, and the kingdom of God advances through lives that reflect His character and power at once.
