God Gives Us Gifts For Service
God gives gifts to believers. These gifts, or special abilities, are given to us so we can help each other serve Christ. These gifts are not provided for us to “show them off.” At the church in Corinth, some of the church members were jealously competing for the importance of their gifts above others. That’s why Paul addressed this issue.
Each of us has a special gift. It’s essential that we do not just sit back and watch what others do with their gifts. We need to discover our unique abilities and use them to serve God.
Spiritual Gifts
1 Cor 12: 1-11
My friends, you asked me about spiritual gifts. I want you to remember that before you became followers of the Lord, you were led in all the wrong ways by idols that cannot even talk. Now I want you to know that if God’s Spirit leads you, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we can each do different things. God works the same in all of us and helps us in everything we do.
The Spirit has given each of us a unique way of serving others. Some of us can speak with wisdom, while others can Talk with knowledge, but these gifts come from the same Spirit. To others, the Spirit has given great faith or the power to heal the sick or the ability to work mighty miracles. Some of us are prophets, and some of us recognize when God’s Spirit is present. Others can speak different kinds of languages, and still, others can tell what these languages mean. But it is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us.
One Body With Many Parts
1 Cor 12: 12-31
The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God’s Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.
Our bodies don’t have just one part. They have many parts. Suppose a foot says, “I’m not a hand, and so I’m not part of the body.” Wouldn’t the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, “I’m not an eye, and so I’m not part of the body.” Wouldn’t the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn’t hear a thing. And if they were just an ear, we couldn’t smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.
A body isn’t a body unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That’s why the eyes cannot say they don’t need the hands. That’s also why the head cannot say it doesn’t need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, but we don’t have to be shy about other parts.
God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honoured, the whole body will be happy.
Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body. First, God chose some people to be apostles and prophets and teachers for the church. But he also wanted some to work miracles or heal the sick or help others or be leaders or speak different kinds of languages. Not everyone is an apostle. Not everyone is a prophet. Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone can work miracles. Not everyone can heal the sick. Not everyone can speak different kinds of languages. Not everyone can tell what these languages mean. I want you to desire the best gifts. So I will show you a much better way.
