And He Himself gave some [to be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Ephesians 4:11-13 (NKJV)
They are not rewards earned for anything we’ve done, neither are they awards that we’ve merited.
They’re not even titles or ranks for us to boast around.
They are gifts freely given to us by God.
We do not own or control the gifts and therefore do not use them as we feel like for our own personal gain rather we function in them to accomplish the purpose of the one (God) who gave them.
The purpose of spiritual gifts is to help build the body of Christ which is the Church and that is all believers.
Whatever gift we have been given we are to use it to advance others in the faith and in the knowledge of Christ. Through gifts we all participate in ministry and contribute towards the building and growth of Christ’s Church.