Moroni 10:9-18 -- On Gifts, Talents, and Seeking

"For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;
And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;
And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;
And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;
And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;
And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.
And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.
And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ."
Moroni 10:9-18


The idea here, of gifts coming to every person "according as he will" is interesting. It reminds me of D&C 46:8, which instructs "seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given" and 1 Corinthians 12:31, which actually tells us to covet, but not things that belong to our neighbors... just "covet earnestly the best gifts." (Paul goes on to explain a more excellent way thereafter, so pure love / charity trumps all of this, and might be a better way to get to the same general goal... living by love is also pursuing excellence and perfection, so maybe this is just something to work on until we graduate to that level, or it could be part of getting there.)

Today, let's exercise our wills and actively seek out good spiritual gifts and talents. All the gifts of God can't actually be listed here, of course, but teaching or faith, for instance, from the list could be good places to start, asking for God to help us with that, and then practicing and trying it out and seeing if we can multiply what we are given and turn it into something that strengthens our lives. And let's remember, even with our best and most effortless talents that just seem to come naturally, that all of our gifts come from Christ. Let's be thankful and not take our blessings for granted, but use them for the benefit of other people and building up the kingdom of God.