Read 1 Corinthians 12:3-13
3I want you to know that no one who is led
by God’s Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is
Lord”, without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
4 There
are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5There
are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. 6There
are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to
all for their particular service. 7The Spirit’s presence is shown in some
way in each person for the good of all. 8The Spirit gives one
person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives
a message full of knowledge. 9One and the same Spirit gives faith to
one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. 10The
Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of
speaking God’s message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference
between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he
gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the
ability to explain what is said. 11But it is one and the same
Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each
person.
12 Christ
is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though
it is made up of different parts. 13In the same way, all of us,
whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the
one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to
drink.
Think
Two things that stand out for
me in this passage; verse 7 emphasizes that the Spirit is given to each person
for the good of the whole community and not just for themselves. And verse 11 explains that the Spirit gives
as the Spirit wishes.
The Holy Spirit's gifts are
not for individuals, they are for a community.
Pray
Lord, sometimes the idea of
Spiritual gifts scares me a little; but when I remember that you Jesus are the
same as the Spirit I know that you are gentle and kind. Help me to trust you for the gifts that I
need to serve the good of my community.
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