Ephesians 4:8 (ESV) Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
    and he gave gifts to men.”

The simple view is that all we have to do is follow Jesus and we will be with Him where He is now. That is true and so simple that it fails to uncover what gifts have been given, why they were given, and how to use them. Simply following Jesus is a little more complicated than saying, “He is there and that is where I am going.”

It is complicated because we are complicated. We are not all motivated by one ruling factor. We hide behind masks and build up walls to protect ourselves because the world treats us as enemies or as competitors for control. We are lied to and manipulated. That is the world we live in. It is not God.

Answer this honestly. What do you want? If you are sitting in a Sunday school class you might search for the right spiritual answer. If you are in an economics class in college you will answer in accordance with syllabus for that class. If you are alone with your significant other that question will take on a whole new meaning. If you are in an ethics seminar you will lie. We all have different agendas and we serve those agendas because that was how we were raised in the world.

We are given gifts by God. What gifts are given and how to use them will be answered best in the why. We are given gifts to serve God’s agenda and not our own.

1 Corinthians 12:31a (ESV) But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

The immature will desire out of a heart that grew up in the world and seek to possess the gifts and use them to serve their own agenda. It is a changed heart that seeks to serve God’s agenda without bias or influence from anything or anyone apart from Christ.