Today I was reading an account highlighting mans progression toward eternal perfection. This path to perfection is spelled out as seven specific gifts of God to man, or the seven stages of life each must pass through in order to achieve godly perfection. Perfection is the glory of God and the nature of those who reside the closest to him.
Each stage in this path to perfection becomes either a door to move closer to God, or fall away depending on how we choose to use this gift. Jesus is our perfect example of perfection and he is our guide along the way. Our success or failure depends on how we link our lives with him or not. Meaning, as soon as we try mastering this gift and moving with it on our own we will always fail and fall away. Yet when we develop it with the Lord we become that much closer to perfection!
The first gift of God (or growth in perfection) is our very existence. The purpose of existence is found in our created destiny and how all are created to come to God in a perfect way. We exist to serve God. This is the most basic understanding of our path to perfection. We move closer to God when we desire to serve him and we move farther away when our desires are focused on ourselves.
The second gift of God (or growth in perfection) is our gift of consciousness. The purpose of consciousness is the ability to become aware of the choice between heavenly pursuits or worldly desires. Through this awareness (or lack thereof) we form certain wishes and desires. In essence, this can be seen as either God-consciousness or self-consciousness in how we choose to manifest it.
The third gift of God (or growth in perfection) is our gift of individuality. The purpose of individuality is the ability for a one on one relationship with God. But in individuality we find our self will which becomes a barrier when focused on self before God. So how we use this gift determines how we live for God or self.
The fourth gift of God (or growth in perfection) is the gift of wisdom. The purpose of wisdom is as a guiding influence in our desires and choices. We can either learn through our pain and tribulations or repeat the same mistakes over and over. Once we find that wisdom originates in God, we will become content in following the ways (and commands) of God due to the perfection we experience through wise choices. But if we choose the wisdom of man as our guiding influence, we will never learn from our trials and become prone to making the same mistakes over and over.
The fifth gift of God (or growth in perfection) is the gift of reason. Through reason we can discern the difference between right and wrong. We see the different progressions of what each choice offers, allowing us to choose with good understanding and with honest intent to follow. It brings confidence that we may endure a more difficult path having reasoned out the other choices. We fall though when we place our reason in the ways of man having placed our confidence in our power instead of Gods.
The sixth gift of God (or growth in perfection) is the gift of judgment. Through judgment we are no longer lukewarm being able to look past appearances, being able to see things as they really are. We will no longer pretend to know and act upon our pretence, rather we acknowledge how little we know and will rely completely on God perfect judgment. This is where we learn how in our weakness we will be made strong, judging ourselves as being unable to find perfection without Gods guiding hand.
The seventh gift of God (or growth in perfection) is the gift of love. Through love we no longer give ourselves
based on circumstances, but rather in spite of it. We are lifted above love for self to a complete love for God. Yet we fall when we place our love in acts of
seduction based in self gratification. But a perfect love has no fear and finds perfection being in the similitude of the mind of God.
I wanted to offer this as foundation, then build on these things in the following posts...
In Christ I Serve,
Steve 
