Gifts of the Holy Spirit Empowering Our Adventure: Gift of Knowledge

The Adventure of Faith is to participate in the divine life of God and to be active members in the mission of Jesus and His Church. The Holy Spirit gives us certain gifts that can be used to increase your own faith, but can also be used for the aid of others. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit empower us to deepen our intimacy with God and to participate in His Divine Life. Three of the Gifts strengthen our will so that we can love God more deeply by choosing His goodness. The other four Gifts enhance our intellect so that we can grow in intimacy with God by receiving His truth. The four Gifts that enlighten the intellect are knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and counsel. Because the Gifts are actually the activity of the Holy Spirit within us, the four Gifts that enlighten the intellect are actually the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit. So as we exercise His Gifts, we are really participating in His divine activity within our souls with the goal of more deeply participating in the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Holy Trinity.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Knowledge

The Gift of Knowledge is the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit about created goods. Our human faculties for knowledge and learning can discover a lot about the physical properties of created goods. God gave us the ability to seek him in the truths of creation. But we need the Holy Spirit to help us to judge how God intended his gifts of creation to be used. We especially need His help to know how to use the gifts of creation for the betterment of our souls.

What does this mean in practical terms?

1. Knowing what true happiness is, and how to order our lives to attain it.

2. Having the Holy Spirit guide our virtue of prudence so we can form our daily lives according to God’ will.

3. The Holy Spirit can guide you to a balanced, healthy use of physical goods while at the same time giving you a greater appreciation for them.

4. Judging our choices through an examination of conscience and being move to sorrow for our sins and to the forgiveness of Jesus – and to joy for the goodness we have chosen.

5. Using created goods according to God’s purpose for them helps us to truly enjoy them as God intended, and the Holy Spirit will draw us through those created gifts to a greater love of God.

The Gift of knowledge is active in all of us, but it is especially strong in some Christians. Saint Vincent De Paul was one such person. With the help of the Holy Spirit, he excelled at meeting the needs of the poor in ways that were so efficient that he never wasted any part of what was donated to him for his work. This wasn’t just a “good head for business.” It was also a spirit-led realization that the physical goods he became the steward of were gifts of God’s love to be shared generously and managed responsibly.

You Challenge

Your challenge is to examine your own life and see how the Gift of Knowledge is active. In what ways does the Holy Spirit seem to guide your use of and enjoyment of created goods? Discover ways this gift is active for you and share them in the comments below!

Your Next Action Step

Now that you’ve been learning about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, I’d like to invite you to take your next step in growing in your faith with From the Abbey. You can learn your faith with our online courses and more educational articles like this one, and you can live your faith with our online spirituality program. Your next step is waiting for you below. Please click the banner and explore it!

Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.