Motivational Gifts #7 The Source of All the Gifts that God Gives Us

Motivational Gifts Overview

In this seventh installment of the Motivational Gifts series, Pastor explores the ultimate source behind every gift God has placed within His people. Drawing from Romans 12:4-8, the teaching establishes that God intentionally diversified spiritual giftings so that believers must depend on one another to see the full picture of His kingdom. Using the vivid parable of six blind men describing an elephant, Pastor illustrates how each person perceives truth through the lens of their particular motivational gift — whether prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, organization, or mercy. The focal gift examined in depth this session is exhortation, or encouragement, rooted in the Greek word paracaleo, meaning to come alongside and strengthen. Grounding the message in Psalms 46:1-5, Romans 8:19-21, and Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and Thessalonians, Pastor shows that every gift is a manifestation of God Himself breaking through human circumstances. Personal stories — including a transformed marriage through a single encourager named Gordy, and a golf tournament encounter with a bitter stranger — bring the teaching to life. The session closes with a passionate call to love one another, mature beyond spiritual infancy, and faithfully exercise the gifts God has given without envy or comparison.

Motivational Gifts Outline

• 0:00 – Opening Prayer and Series Context: Pastor reopens the Motivational Gifts series with prayer, asking God to speak individually to every listener and bring increase of anointing throughout the teaching.
• 5:30 – God as the Original Gift-Giver: The session establishes that from creation itself, God initiated a kingdom of gifts. Adam received all creation as a gift, and when it was surrendered to Satan, corruption entered everything — setting the stage for redemption through Christ.
• 13:00 – Foundational Scripture: Psalms 46 and Romans 12: Pastor anchors the series in Psalms 46:1-5 and Romans 12:4-8, showing that God is our refuge and the source of every motivational gift, given so believers can profit and get up and over life’s challenges.
• 21:00 – The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant: Using the story of six blind men each touching a different part of an elephant, Pastor illustrates why no single believer has the complete picture alone, and why mutual dependence is God’s intentional design for the body of Christ.
• 30:00 – Review of Prophecy, Serving, and Teaching: A recap of the previous sessions covers the motivational gifts of prophecy as the eyes of the body, serving as the hands, and teaching as the mind — each with distinct strengths and growth edges.
• 40:00 – The Gift of Exhortation Defined: The core teaching on the motivational gift of exhortation unfolds. Rooted in the Greek paracaleo, this gift drives believers to come alongside others, encourage growth, and call people to practical, abundant living.
• 50:00 – Paul as the Model Exhorter: Pastor traces Paul’s exhorting spirit through his letters, noting that Paul used the phrase ‘I exhort you’ fourteen times. His relationship with John Mark and Barnabas illustrates both the power and the cost of encouragement.
• 58:00 – Maturing Beyond Spiritual Infancy: Drawing from First Corinthians 3:1-3 and 9:24-27, Pastor challenges believers to move beyond envy, strife, and division — the marks of spiritual immaturity — and to discipline themselves so they can receive greater revelation from God.
• 1:06:00 – Exhortation for the Encourager and the Body: Romans 12:12 is read aloud as a direct word to those with the gift of encouragement: rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer, especially when no one is there to encourage you in return.

Scripture References

Psalms 46:1-5, Romans 12:4-8, Philemon 6, 1 Corinthians 12:7, Romans 8:19-21, Joshua 1:8, Acts 4:36, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Romans 12:12

Key Takeaways

• God intentionally limited each believer’s giftedness so that the body of Christ must work together and remain dependent on one another to grasp the full truth.
• Every motivational gift is a manifestation of God Himself coming through a person to help others get up and over difficulties they would rather not face.
• The gifts and callings of God are without repentance — He never takes them back, and believers are responsible to exercise them faithfully throughout their lives.
• Understanding the motivational gifts of those around you transforms criticism into compassion, because you begin to see why people function the way they do.
• The gift of exhortation, rooted in the Greek paracaleo, is the calling to come alongside others, encourage their growth, and draw on life’s experiences to produce abundant living.
• Spiritual maturity is marked by love, unity, and mutual encouragement — where envy, strife, and division exist, Paul identifies these as signs of spiritual infancy that block believers from receiving greater revelation.
• Encouragers must discipline themselves to remain steadfast in hope and constant in prayer even when no one is encouraging them in return, trusting that their gift is still needed and effective.

Motivational Gifts Notes

God Designs Gifts for Interdependence

A central theme of this teaching is that God deliberately distributes motivational gifts in limited and focused ways so that no single believer can function completely alone. Citing Don and Katie Fortune’s book Discover Your God-Given Gifts, Pastor explains that this limitation is not a flaw but a divine strategy. It compels the body of Christ to remain relationally connected, dependent on one another’s strengths to form a complete picture of truth and ministry. This design also guards against pride, since no one person can claim to see or do everything well on their own.

The Elephant Parable and Partial Vision

To illustrate how each believer perceives life through their motivational gift, Pastor recounts the well-known parable of six blind men each touching a different part of an elephant. One feels a wall, another a spear, another a snake, a tree, a fan, and a rope. None is entirely wrong, yet none is entirely right either. Only together do they begin to describe the whole animal. Pastor applies this directly to church life: the reason believers so often misunderstand or criticize one another is that they are each seeing the same situation through a different motivational lens, and wisdom demands they learn to value every perspective.

Exhortation as Practical Life Ministry

The motivational gift of exhortation is not primarily about preaching or public speaking. Pastor describes it as the mouth of the body — the voice that calls people forward into better living. Exhorters are practical, positive, and life-focused. They draw on personal and shared experiences to demonstrate that growth is possible, and they find deep joy in watching others mature. The Greek word paracaleo captures the posture well: to come alongside someone, not to lecture from above, but to walk with them through the process. The story of Gordy, a single man who took a struggling husband into his home for a month and through simple encouragement helped restore a marriage, is a powerful real-world picture of this gift in action.

Paul the Apostle as Chief Exhorter

Pastor makes a compelling case that the Apostle Paul, though gifted in prophecy and teaching, functioned significantly as an exhorter. Paul used the phrase ‘I exhort you’ fourteen times across his letters, consistently calling believers upward toward spiritual maturity and deeper commitment to God. In First Thessalonians 4:1 he urges believers to abound more and more in their walk with God. Even his sharp correction of the Corinthian church in First Corinthians 3 is framed as the concern of someone who desires to move people from spiritual infancy to the place where they can receive solid food and greater revelation from God.

Staying Steadfast When No One Encourages You

One of the most pastorally honest moments in the teaching addresses the inner struggle of the encourager: what happens when no one encourages you? Pastor does not offer a simple solution but points to Romans 12:12 as a direct word for this exact moment — rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. The encourager must learn to discipline their own soul, drawing strength from God directly rather than waiting for reciprocation. Paul modeled this in First Corinthians 9:24-27, disciplining his body so that he would not become disqualified from receiving and distributing the revelation God entrusted to him.

Love as the Foundation of All Gifts

The session closes with a return to the command that appears thirteen times in the New Testament: love one another. Pastor connects this command directly to the motivational gifts teaching, arguing that love is what makes understanding possible. When believers understand how others are wired, they can appreciate rather than criticize. When creation itself is seen as waiting for the sons of God to be revealed, as Romans 8:19-21 declares, the stakes of walking in love and using one’s gifts faithfully become eternal. Every gift exercised in love moves both the giver and the receiver closer to the fullness God intended.

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