Gifts of the Spirit
Day 599, Thursday, April 2
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
We sometimes hear the statement, “God doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the called.” In the next few days we’ll be reading some of the best known passages in 1 Corinthians as we read about how God goes about equipping the called.
Our capacity to serve God doesn’t come from our own skills and abilities, but from the Holy Spirit. Sure, the Spirit can make use of our abilities, but it is the Spirit’s power that makes them useful for the building of the kingdom.
Some of the gifts mentioned in the reading are messages of wisdom and of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, and speaking and interpreting tongues.
It appears that a source of conflict in the Corinthian church was about who had the best and most important gifts. This could lead to pride and jealousy. In our own day there is still conflict about the legitimacy and value of specific gifts.
Paul reassures the Corinthians that the gifts aren’t an indication of who is most important, but are gifts to the whole church. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Thursday meditation
Psalms 105:5-15
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”
When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
Prayer focus
May we willingly accept your gifts without complaint. Free us to use those gifts to bless those around us.