The Gift of Prophesy

I am taking a spiritual gifts class at my church and have discovered my primary gift is prophesy.  I would say that the

The common idea of a prophet is found in stained-glass windows

gift of prophesy is one of the rarest and most disliked of the seven gifts, which are leadership/administration, mercy, exhortation, giving, service, teaching, and prophesy.  This gift is mainly disliked because of the person’s ability to see sin and consequences clearly.  A prophet has the ability to see these things, and therefore cannot help but to teach them to others.  This often results in arguments and debates.

Some people may be confused with the definition of a prophet.  Most would think that they were only in the Old Testament, but prophets can still be found today.  A prophet is simply someone whom God has gifted with an ability to see sin and problems in people’s lives, including their own, and point them out to others.  Prophets, or at least I, find that we also tend to look at a situation and see its possible consequences clearly.

Two common downfalls of a prophet that have been pointed out to me are, one, we tend to not show much mercy, if any.  Two, we also tend to not know when to speak up and when to stay quiet.  These are both problems I commonly find myself in.

The best way to go about fixing these shortcomings is to ask the Lord, the same person who gifted you, for discernment on when to and when not to show mercy or speak up about a problem you have found.   If you ask sincerely, the Lord will grant your request and help you to discern the best way to act in certain situations.

I hope this has provided some clarity into the spiritual gift of prophesy for you.  Please comment so I can see some other points of view in this matter.