SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Helps
Strengthen the work someone else has been entrusted to do.
Helps is the Spirit-enabled capacity to strengthen another person’s ministry by providing the support necessary for it to succeed. It overlaps with Service but places special emphasis on coming alongside someone else’s work.
WHAT IS THE GIFT OF HELPS?
Helps multiplies the effectiveness of someone else’s work.
Someone with this gift may naturally see the missing piece, the burden that can be lifted, the practical support a leader needs, or the task that would make another person’s calling more sustainable.
The helper often thinks:
What can I take off their plate?
At its healthiest, Helps does not need equal visibility to know the contribution matters.
It understands that making someone else more effective is not lesser ministry.
It is ministry that often multiplies ministry.
YOU MAY RECOGNIZE THIS GIFT WHEN...
Others may have noticed...
- You make other people’s work more effective.
- You anticipate what leaders, teams, or ministries need in order to function well.
- You are dependable without needing to be in front.
- You strengthen the calling of others through practical support.
You may have noticed...
- You enjoy helping someone else succeed.
- You do not need to be the person in front.
- You frequently think, “What can I take off their plate?”
- Supporting someone else’s calling feels meaningful rather than secondary.
THE GIFT IN SCRIPTURE
PRISCILLA AND AQUILA
Acts 18:1–3, 18–28; Romans 16:3–4
Priscilla and Aquila become part of the ministry community around Paul.
Later, they encounter Apollos, a gifted teacher whose understanding is incomplete.
They do not embarrass him publicly.
They take him aside and help him understand the way of God more accurately.
Their contribution is not centered on becoming the visible ministry themselves.
They strengthen someone who is already gifted.
Apollos goes on to become an influential teacher.
The church benefits because Priscilla and Aquila came alongside him with what he needed.
Paul later calls them fellow workers and says they risked their lives for him.
Their support is not passive.
It is costly partnership.
Helps is not lesser ministry.
It is ministry that often multiplies what God is doing through someone else.
EXPLORE THE SCRIPTURES
WHEN HELPS IS HEALTHY
Healthy Helps...
- strengthens someone else’s work.
- anticipates needs without needing the spotlight.
- provides support that increases sustainability.
- does not confuse invisibility with insignificance.
- uses boundaries so help does not become exploitation.
- allows the supported person to remain responsible for their own calling.
THE WEIGHT OF THE GIFT
Helpers are especially vulnerable to being taken for granted.
Because they are dependable, people may keep asking.
Because they are willing, leaders may stop noticing the cost.
Because the work is often invisible, helpers may begin believing their contribution is less spiritual than what happens on stage.
That is false.
But giftedness does not erase boundaries.
Helping is not the same as becoming responsible for everything everyone else refuses to carry.
Leaders have a responsibility to honor, protect, and not exploit dependable people.
And helpers need permission to say:
I can support this.
Or:
This is not mine to carry.
ASK THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW YOU
WE ARE FORMED PERSONALLY.
WE ARE REVEALED RELATIONALLY.
Ask:
- Whose work has become stronger or more sustainable because I was involved?
- Do I enjoy strengthening someone else without needing equal visibility?
- Am I supporting... or quietly becoming responsible for everything?
- Do people honor my contribution and limits?
- Where might I need to help without becoming indispensable?
TRY THE GIFT
PRACTICE HELPS
Think of one person doing meaningful work.
Ask them one simple question:
What is one thing I could take off your plate that would actually help?
Do not assume.
Listen.
Choose one concrete task that genuinely supports their work without taking ownership of their responsibility.
Then notice whether your help creates greater freedom and sustainability.
GUIDED PRAYER
God,
If You have entrusted Helps to me, teach me to strengthen the work of others with joy and wisdom.
Help me see what support is genuinely needed without making myself responsible for everything.
Protect me from resentment, invisibility, and exploitation.
Remind me that support is not lesser ministry.
Give me healthy boundaries and let what I carry make someone else’s calling more sustainable.
Amen.
CONTINUE DISCOVERING
Think Helps may be one of the ways God has entrusted you to strengthen others?