Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12: 15-18
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
Observation: Our gifts are determined by God and are no less important than any other.
Application: I think our general human nature is to compare ourselves to others. As much as we are individuals, we believe that we long to be the same as everyone else. We compare ourselves to others, we copy others, and we try to be like others. And yet, God said in Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” This includes "you shall not covet thy neighbour's spiritual gift".
God created us uniquely for His purpose and such has given us gifts to use for that. Not just any gifts, or the same gifts, but the gifts we need to fulfil his plan. I love the analogy of the body because it really makes it clear that each gift is valuable and important and that the body (the church) is less effective without it. In fact, giving specialized gifts makes us more effective because we are able to excel in our gift if we use it well. If our feet were given multiple purposes like the walk and see and hear, they no doubt would be less effective than to have the single task of getting us from one place to another. Similarly, if each person was given every spiritual gift, they would not able to develop their gift the same way to become an expert in it than if they excelled in one area. Similarly if every person had all gifts, it would be like having a whole body of eyes or ears because there would be no specialization.
Just like the body has separate parts and functions, our spiritual gifts are diverse but no less valuable than any other. Functioning as a whole, the body is able to do great things because each part is doing their job to its full capacity. We all have our role in the church too. We have been blessed by God and given a unique talent and contribution. If we are not using it, we are making our church body less effective in its role. What is your gift? Are you wishing you had another? Or are you using your gift as God intended to grow His family of believers?
Prayer: Lord, You are the giver of all things. You have given us life and blessed us so richly. We quickly forget how much we are blessed by You and how You have a divine plan for our lives. Thank you for the wisdom of Your word that makes it clear to us that You know what You are doing. Thank You for each gift that You give to us and help us to learn how to embrace it as our own and develop it to use to Your glory. Guide us to see our gifts as uniquely chosen just for us and to acknowledge the gifts as others as theirs alone and not something we are lacking. Amen.
1 comment:
Great thoughts here Pam. I think we sometimes worry about gifts we don't have, to the extent that we ignore the ones we DO have - and the body misses out big time.
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