Spiritual Gifts
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1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2. You know that when you were heathen, you were led astray to dumb idols, however you may have been moved. 3. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 4. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5. and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6. and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. 7. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9. to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10. to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Spiritual Gifts are so easily misunderstood! I guess because they are so difficult to grasp and seem so mystical and obscure. The only real mystery, though, is that God loves us enough and loves all of mankind enough, to endow each us with “special abilities” that He intends us to use in service of and for others. My Bible Reader’s Companion offers this brief background to allow us to frame these verses in the intended context:
In the ancient world ecstatic utterance was viewed as a sign of possession by the gods. Epilepsy was a “divine disease” and the mutterings of drugged priestesses . . . were assumed to convey messages from the gods. Paul refers to this in noting that when pagans and ignorant, “You were influenced and led astray by dumb idols.”
By Paul’s time, these beliefs were carried over to Christianity and spiritual giftedness. So Paul wanted to set the record straight for the Corinthians. There is no one gift that is “better” than another—so no person is “more gifted” than another. In the body of Christ (the church—and the larger community in which we live) every gift is of equal importance! God never empowers one with the gift of speaking in tongues (not epileptic speech, but true language of a divine nature!) without providing one with the gift of interpretation. This gift is highlighted the most often in this example, because it is most obvious that without an interpreter, the gift does not serve the community! It’s the same with every spiritual gift – and various names have been given to them, various lists have been developed, various tools and instruments have been developed to direct us to what our spiritual gift is (or gifts are). But the bottom line is this: it doesn’t matter what we call it. It doesn’t matter how we categorize it, or how “man” instructs us to use these divine gifts from God. What matters is that the Holy Spirit empowers us in a unique and meaningful way to serve God – as only we can!
To discover our giftedness, we only need to serve – God will provide the opportunities, Jesus sets the example of our service and the Holy Spirit guides and directs us to the type and nature of Christian, loving, devoted service that gives US the most fulfillment and satisfaction. To me, that is the mystery: the Triune God works intimately in our lives and within us to provide for every need of mankind—and in our obedience, we find our own fulfillment. All that is required of us is a willing obedience and trust that we will “know” when we’ve hit upon our giftedness.
God is so good! God is so wise! It is unimaginable that He planned this world! It is unfathomable that He loves us enough to create within us the ability to meet the needs of others—and through the act of service, find fulfillment within ourselves. It is just incomprehensible! How can one doubt the existence of God? How can one doubt His love for us? How can one deny that we are created in His image and likeness? How else could serving another end up providing us with what we need ourselves?
I hope you spend your day in loving service to others—and find from that service the peace, joy and satisfaction of knowing that God designed you exactly as He saw fit—and loves you just the way you are.
Mary
