7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.
I like how he described some of the gifts in this passage... saying that wise advice is a gift.. and great faith is a gift...
we often think if we are not called to leadership that we are not gifted.. that is SO not the truth... there is a woman at my church whose gift is the gift of helps... she go randomly buying gifts for people.. not always expensive gifts.. many times just a $5 book of bible promises.. or a bookmark... but her gift touch people.. not so much by what they are.. as that she thought to do something kind.. something nice for them and she really doesn't even know them...
we ALL have important gifts.. even if we don't recognize them as a gift...
11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
we tend to be so self absorbed that we only think if things are good with us.. then we aren't so concerned with how they are for everyone else... but that is not reality... I am learning.. as God has made me one with another person... that we are all sewn together with someone else... and we may not feel their literal pain or sorrows as we do with someone we are one with.. but their position still affects us if we are to be around them... think about your job or your home... at my job.. we have a man that talks CONSTANTLY... about NOTHING... (I know more about government now than I ever did in my life... I can do just about anything around the house with all the knowledge this man spews out daily... LOL) and it affects ALL OF US... not just the person enduring the conversation... it affects the others too... or... if you have someone who is just miserable... that persons demeanor can bring down the mood of a whole office or a home... we are all suffering with one another.. anyone we are connected to.... it affects more than just one person...
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
I thought the order that he listed the gifts was very important here... so many people strive to be leaders.. yet paul did not put them at the top of the list.. as if this was not all that important... the gift of helps is above leadership in the list... which tells me... the gift of helps is a very important gift even though we don't look at it like that... it reaches many people in love and servanthood... so often we all want to be a leader and not a servant... yet it is the servant that is able to change lives... by kindness.. by encouragement... by a happy disposition.... think in your own life about someone who is always miserable and complaining and how much you don't want to be around that person... then think of a person who is pleasant and encouraging.. and how you want to be with them all the time... and decide for yourself.. who do you want to be? a servant or a leader? an encourager or a complainer? a life changer or a voice of dispair?
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