Note 30 at 1 Cor. 12:11: It is important to recognize that all believers can operate in these areas without having the specific gifts of the Spirit mentioned here. Every believer should have God's wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:8, 17; Col. 1:9; 2:3) and knowledge (2 Pet. 1:2-5), as well as His faith (Rom. 12:3 with Gal. 2:20). All believing Christians can lay hands on the sick and see them recover (Mk. 16:18), and we should all see the same type of miracles that Jesus did happen in our own lives (Jn. 14:12). At times, every member of the body of Christ can prophesy, discern spirits, speak in tongues and interpret tongues. Yet not every Christian has these things as a supernatural gift of the Spirit in his or her life.

All believers are to teach others about their faith in Christ but that doesn't mean they have been called to be a teacher as mentioned in Ephesians 4:11. All believers are to evangelize but that doesn't mean they have been called to be an evangelist as in Ephesians 4:11. Likewise, all believers can operate in these areas that are called gifts of the Spirit, but that doesn't mean they have that gift.

Not every Christian has the gift of speaking in tongues that operates in the church services (see note 28 at v. 10), but every believer who has been baptized in the Holy Ghost has the personal gift of speaking in tongues that is for our own edification (see note 13 at Mk. 16:17, p. 566). A person with the gift of speaking in tongues as mentioned here, is a person who stands in the assembly of believers and speaks out a message in tongues which when interpreted equals a word of prophecy (see note at 1 Cor. 14:5).

The person who has a gift of the Spirit will repeatedly operate in this area plus it will come relatively effortlessly compared to those who operate in that area without a gift. There will also be a real love for or drawing towards that gift or what it accomplishes that is dominant in that person;s life.

Note 31 at 1 Cor. 12:11: These are separate gifts of the Holy Spirit (see note 8 at 1 Cor. 12:4, p. 927) but the Holy Spirit can give more than one gift to one individual. It is not unusual for some of these gifts to normally operate together in one person. The word of wisdom, word of knowledge and prophecy frequently function together (see note 21 at 1 Cor. 12:8, p. 929). The gifts of healing and the working of miracles often are given to one individual to accomplish a healing ministry.

Note 32 at 1 Cor. 12:11: It is the Holy Spirit who decides who receives which gifts but the last verse of this twelfth chapter tells us to covet earnestly the best gifts (see note at v. 31). This would imply that our seeking earnestly a certain gift could have some bearing on the Holy Spirit's decisions.