1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Tag: Spiritual Gifts
Most believers don't think much about the giftedness they were given by the Spirit of God. God has distributed to the Body of Christ spiritual gifts that we can use in the Body ... for the "common good" of all those in the Body (The Church). The church at Corinth (to whom this letter was written) had no problem both recognizing their spiritual gifts and boasting about them. They were "gift crazy." They loved to boast about their possession of a spiritual gift and did so. Paul wants them to know that their gift was, indeed, a gift from God. It was not something they could claim from their own nature. It was given by the Spirit. This automatically should have produced a spirit of humility and not pride. Instead they became very prideful about their giftedness. The other part they failed to see, is the fact that they had the spiritual gift for the common good of all. Many of them were using their gift for personal glory and gain. Paul goes to great lengths to show them how ever gift in the Body is necessary, is given by God and is for the purpose of building up others and the Body, not for personal glory or use. Those who fail to see that their giftedness was from God, for God and to be used by God for God's people, miss the point that this is a "spiritual gift." They lose the ability to really build up the Boy. We are to be thankful for our giftedness and be ready to use it for others.
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