Dwell in the Word 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Consider these questions as you dwell in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11:

1. How does Paul address the issue of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, and what key points does he emphasize about their purpose and origin?

2. Paul emphasizes the diversity of spiritual gifts while underlining their common source in the Holy Spirit. How can understanding this concept impact the way individuals view and utilize their own spiritual gifts for the edification of the church and the glory of God?

3. Paul underscores that every spiritual gift is bestowed by God according to His will. How can believers cultivate a grateful and contented attitude regarding their specific gifts, rather than desiring or comparing themselves to other gifts they do not possess?

Transcript:

 Now, as we come to chapter 12, we're getting a little bit more of an indication that there are other problems in the church in Corinth. We're going to see more of that as we move forward, but obviously there was some issue with the different ways in which gifts of the Spirit were being viewed. So, Paul doesn't want them to be uninformed about spiritual gifts.

Now, we notice in verse 2, he says, When you were pagans, you were led astray in mute idols, however you were led. You know, these idols were mute. They didn't say anything. You were led astray. That’s your business but now you are in Christ. Now you have the Spirit of God.  He wants them to understand that that people can't say by the Spirit of God Jesus is accursed and no one will say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit We cannot truly confess Christ as Lord unless the Spirit has given us Uh, the gift of faith to believe and to trust in Christ.

And so, we see that there is a variety of gifts that Paul talks about here, all these different things. And he says, therefore, the common good, there’s with utterance of wisdom, utterance of knowledge. Uh, you get the idea. There's all these different things here. And the big point, you know, we could talk about some of the details here, but the big point is that Paul wants them to understand that there is one spirit.

And they are all different gifts that are working together. And so, verse 11, All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, even though they might seem like different things. The Spirit of God is at work in them, and it's working towards one goal, and that is to bring glory to Christ, to proclaim the Gospel, and to bring people to faith in Christ.

And so, as it says here, All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually, As he wills.  You know, this is really a beautiful thing. When we think about it, we look at spiritual gifts and often we might say, you know, I wish I had this one or I had that one. Or maybe we, we think that ours isn't good enough.

The gifts that we do have, we try to find out what they are, but we, we see here that God gives out the gifts as he wills. We all have some sort of gifting. To bring glory to God. And it's what God has given us.  We can grow in those things. We can be better at those things. But ultimately, what is happening?

God is using us and the gifts that we have in order to advance his kingdom. In order to bring glory to himself. And so, it's important for us. And again, there's nothing wrong with us, you know, trying to get better at, at using the gifts that we have. But we have to remember that, that God gives out these gifts for a reason.

You know, for example, I, I don't know that I necessarily have the gift of hospitality. I can make people feel welcome, I guess. But I don't look at that and say, you know, God, I wish God would've given me that gift. No, because he gave me other gifts. And we have to remember that. Not every gift,  that looks good You know, we might say, Hey, I wish I had the gift of wisdom, or the gift of knowledge, or. Or what? Another spiritual gift?  Those maybe seem like they’re like, they're the higher gifts, the gift of hospitality or the gift of servant hood. Those things are just as important because God has given them out. And some people don't have that gift.

And yet others do. We have to remember that these gifts were given by God to be used by us. And even though we see some of them as being more important, they're not. God is using all of this together to bring glory to himself, to care for his people. And so may we not desire gifts that we don't have.

 Instead, may we look to how God has used the gifts that he has given us. May we be looking for opportunities to better understand that gift, and use that gift, and be looking forward. To the opportunities that we might have today and any other day to use those gifts for God's glory.  So may we be mindful of that today.

May we be looking for how we can serve others because God has given these gifts to us. For that purpose to serve him and to serve others, and there are plenty of opportunities out there to use the gifts that God has given us no matter what they are. Today, we will come in contact with an opportunity to use those gifts so may God's spirit through the word and the power of that spirit be building us up today and helping us to see how we may serve God with those gifts that he has blessed us with.