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1 Timothy 4:14
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14 Neglect [ameleo] not [me] the gift [charisma] that is in [en] thee, [soi] which [hos] was given [didomi] thee [soi] by [dia] prophecy, [propheteia] with [meta] the laying on [epithesis] of the hands [cheir] of the presbytery. [presbuterion] KJV-Interlinear
14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. NASB
When you are born physically into this world, you are born with some sort of gift. Your gift may be a physical gift or a talent of some sort, such as in sports or art or music, or the ability to organize, and so forth. Physical gifts make up a long list of abilities of which you certainly have one or more to get you through life.
Your physical ability is there to help you get through life, personally, socially, professionally, etc.
Likewise, when you believed in Christ, at that moment, you were reborn into a new spiritual life. And at that moment you received a spiritual gift, Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12:1-4; 1 Peter 4:10-11. Everyone who believes in Christ, receives a spiritual gift of some sort.
In your physical life, if you ignore your natural talent or ability, then it is a waste. You are not living your life to its fullest potential.
But in your spiritual life, you likewise have a gift that needs to be utilized to its fullest in order to live your life to its fullest potential.
And by the way, even if you do not believe that you have a gift, that is a part of the definition of ‘neglect’ which we will cover below. Your gift is there, even if you do not believe it.
In the physical life, you probably have to practice, or advance your education, or do something in order to bring your natural talent or ability to its peak. And as for your spiritual gift, the same principle applies, however, your practice is not repetitions of physical effort, but the repetition of daily study of doctrine.
God uses prepared believers. Would any business or organization use you if you were not prepared? No.
Therefore, if God is to use you in a way that He sees fit, for His purpose, then you have to be prepared. And that preparation comes only from your daily study and application of doctrine to your life.
Neglect, ‘ameleo,’ means to be careless, make light of, to reject, to disregard, to be negligent, to ignore.
And so you have a spiritual gift. Whatever that gift is, you may not even be aware of it for many years, but it is extremely valuable, because God gave it to you. You would be foolish to ignore it. And by ignoring Bible doctrine in your life, you are in effect throwing away a major part of your whole purpose of existing.
However, by pursuing your daily studies, your gift will become apparent to you sooner or later. And whether it is to teach doctrine, to build the next Mars rocket, to raise your children, or simply be brave at some important moment in your life that might save or help others, then you will only know it, if you pursue your preparation day in and day out throughout your life, by studying with a passion.
How would you like to go to heaven and ask St. Peter what your gift was, and then hear the response, ‘Well if you had been true to your studies, then you would have accomplished this or that particular ‘great’ thing. But you weren’t, so you didn’t.’ And your response would be, ‘Oh.’ As you realize that you missed out on a great opportunity, simply because you were lazy, or did not care, or made light of, your daily Bible studies.
And who recognizes your ability? God. He is the source of your gift. And in life, there will be someone who will recognize your gift, even if most do not.
Timothy received the gift of instructor or teacher. He received this gift from God. He did not receive it when other pastors placed their hands on him. People do not have the power to bestow gifts on anyone, not even themselves.
But the laying on of the hands, is nothing more than a public recognition, of something that someone possesses.
What do you receive when you graduate from a school or university? A diploma. That is the public recognition of your completion of the academic work they provided.
When you accomplish something you receive a hug, a pat on the back, a cheerful ‘congratulations,’ a trophy, and so forth.
Timothy’s ability was obvious and it was formally recognized by his peers.
However, in the spiritual realm, God does all of the work and God receives all of the credit.
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