DAD'S RAMBLINGS – SPIRITUAL GIFTS
"But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." (I Corinthians 12:11)
We have already discovered that the Church at Corinth was blessed abundantly and there was no lack of spiritual gifts (I Cor. 1:7). But even with all these gifts, they still needed instruction because they were not always using God's gifts properly.
Paul makes it clear that the Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to each Believer as He chooses. Spiritual gifts cannot be a source of pride to the Believer because they are all received from God. They do not come from the Believer's great abilities or spirituality. They are given as the Holy Spirit desires.
In this chapter, Paul compares the church to a body. Each body has its individual parts – eyes, nose, mouth, heart, kidneys, hands. They all serve different functions, but they are all important to the healthy body, and without them, the body suffers. So it is with the Church. Each member individually has a ministry in the Church, and without that gift in operation, the Church is handicapped. Do we all have the same place to fill in the Body? What if we were all brain, or all mouth (God forbid) or all heart? The Body would be a Frankenstein.
Apparently, some in the Corinthian Church were using their gifts to bring glory to themselves rather than for the benefit of the Body. Their motivation was self-promotion rather than love. The purpose of the gifts is not for personal praise, but for the well-being of the Body.
For the Church to be whole and complete, we need all of the parts of the Body to be functioning as God has given the grace to minister the individual gifts. No one gift is more important than any other gift. Let each of us be faithful to use the gifts God has given to us to minister to others without pride or personal gain so that the Lord Jesus will be glorified and other Believers will be edified. That is the purpose of spiritual gifts.
Love, Dad
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