Verse 17 states that “all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.” It is not a gift from God if we somehow create these things by ourselves. It is a spiritual gift when it is given by Christ and by God’s will.
What does the word “severally” mean? The phrase “joint and several liability” is familiar legal terminology. People who are “jointly liable” can be sued as a group and, if any one person in the group is found to be in the wrong, each person would pay an equal amount due the victim or plaintiff. However, if the liability is several, then each one of them can be sued individually without involving the entire group or whole partnership. “Severally” is an old way of saying “individually.” “Collectively” or “individually” means the same as “jointly” or “severally.”
For instance, in the Parable of the Talents, before traveling into a far country, a man called his servants together and gave one of his servants one talent, two to another, and five to another— “to every man according to his several ability” (Matthew 25:15).
Moroni was saying that the spiritual gifts are given severally —individually— because God knows who we are. He knows what we can do, what we should do, and what he would like us to have the opportunity to do. It is useless to envy the gifts of others.
Book of Mormon Central, “How Will God Manifest the Truth of the Book of Mormon? (Moroni 10:4),” KnoWhy 254 (December 16, 2016).