What are the charisms of the Holy Spirit? They are special, supernatural abilities or graces given to each baptized person. Every baptized person has at least one, but most have about three. There are 24 charisms in all, not including the gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues which are discerned and used differently. Here is a little about each charism of the Holy Spirit.
Administration
This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to undertake and accomplish the planning and execution of projects and goals in a way that exceeds simply learned skills.
Celibacy
Celibacy is a charism that empowers an individual to be most fulfilled and fruitfully by remaining unmarried in devotion and obedience to Christ. Therefore, it is always in conjunction with other gifts and creates a freedom to use and pursue those gifts totally.
Craftsmanship
This charism empowers an individual to show God’s goodness to the world through artistic, creative, or skilled work that brings order and beauty into other’s lives.
Discernment
Discernment is the charism that empowers an individual to accurately and intuitively sense the spiritual source of something – whether it be God, human, or demonic.
Encouragement
This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to be an effective emissary of God’s love and nurturing nature through their presence, ability to listen, and words of comfort and counsel.
Evangelism
Evangelism empowers an individual to share their faith in a way that is supernaturally effective – encouraging both conversion and dedication to the faith in those they minister to.
Faith
This charism of the Holy Spirit often is mixed up with the spiritual gift of faith, but each are unique. This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to trust God and His will to a supernatural degree and gives them great freedom to operate out of that trust in a way that builds the faith of the community.
Giving
Giving, thus, empowers an individual to be a conduit of God’s provision by practicing supernatural generosity with their time, talents, and resources.
Healing
This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to become a special expression of God’s love in the world by curing illness and restoring health – be it physical, inner, as well as relational.
Helps
Helps as a charism doesn’t mean being walked all over. This charism actually empowers an individual to be a particular support to another person’s service, ministry or vocation through the use of their own talents and gifts. Like a right-hand man/woman.
Hospitality
This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to open one’s heart and home to welcome others as if they are Christ himself, often by providing food, shelter, or relationship.
Intercession
Intercession as a charism is more than just prayer. This charism empowers an individual to pray without ceasing for the intercessions of others with great faith that prayer changes things and they often serve as a means by which God’s love reaches others.
Knowledge
This is another charism that can get mixed up with its spiritual gift counterpart, but is really distinct from the gift of knowledge we all receive in baptism and confirmation. This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to use their mind, study, and analytical skills to synthesize information that helps us better understand God and the world.
Leadership
This charism of the Holy Spirit, furthermore, empowers an individual to share their vision for growth and change with others in a way that motivates and compels others to participate in that vision under their direction.
Mercy
Mercy empowers an individual to share in Christ’s own empathy and compassion for others and urges them to practical actions to love and serve them.
Missionary
Thus, the missionary charism empowers an individual to be a channel of God’s love and goodness, caring deeply about the salvation of people all over the world and being urged to act on that call by ministering to those in other cultures. You can do this by going out into the world like St. Francis Xavier or by praying for the world like St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Music
This charism empowers an individual to share God’s goodness through music (whether vocal, instrumental, etc.) in a way that invites others into deeper relationship with God. This charism is often hard to discern vs. natural talent, but it’s helpful to add the litmus test of looking at not just the beauty or skill of the music, but at whether or not the music made invites others into a sense of wonder, faith, or experience of prayer.
Pastoring
This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to both build effective Christian community and enter into long term relationships of Christian formation that elevates the faith life of the people they serve.
Prophecy
In a way, we are all called to be prophets, but this charism empowers an individual to hear from the Lord and share His messages with others in a way that encourages, instructs, and invites them into deeper relationship with God.
Service
This charism empowers an individual to see the needs in a community or organization and then do what is necessary to bridge the gap and support task at hand.
Teaching
Not just classroom teachers, although often found there, this charism empowers an individual to communicate ideas, skills, and information in a way that is effective and empowering to those they teach, for the good of the student’s personal and spiritual formation.
Voluntary Poverty
This charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to live in solidarity with the poor in a chosen and joyful way that helps build other’s faith and confidence in Jesus.
Wisdom
Not to be confused with the gift of the Holy Spirit given in baptism and confirmation, this charism empowers an individual to creatively apply knowledge with insight to help solve problems, accomplish goals, or make decisions.
Writing
Finally, this charism of the Holy Spirit empowers an individual to use words to express truth, beauty, and goodness in ways that reflect the fullness of the human experience and deeply affect the reader.
These are the charisms of the Holy Spirit. Learn more about them and charisms in general in our free PDF guide. If you think you’re ready, then take our charism assessment to start your journey.
Learn more at Many Parts Ministries.
