1 Corinthians 12: Varieties of Gifts

carpecollum@gmail.com — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:40:14 GMT

There are NINE spiritual gifts listed in 1 Cor. 12:8-10:

The Word of Wisdom
The Word of Knowledge
Faith
Healing
Effecting of Miracles
Prophecy
Distinguishing of Spirits
Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues

"There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit," says 1 Cor. 12:4. This is dealing specifically with spiritual gifts, but it can be easily applied to gifts in general.

The point is not how many gifts there are, but that there are MANY GIFTS through ONE power - the Holy Spirit.

This is not a competition. Those who have a word of wisdom through the Spirit are not any "better" than another who only has a word of knowledge. One who can perform a miracle is no "better" than another who can prophecy. I enclose the word "better" in quotation marks because the concept is so foreign to the ways of the Lord. We shouldn't even use the word. But this is the way humans think. I'm either superior or inferior to my brother, right?

In reality, the church is a synergetic relationship. What is synergy? It is a relationship where multiple people effect more work by working together than they would as individual units working separately. For instance, Bill is good at writing children's books. Mary is an oustanding artist. Bill might get a fair product if he wrote a book and illustrated it himself. Mary might get a fair product if she wrote a book and illustrated it herself. But if they put their strengths together they would come out with something amazing - Bill's writing skills plus Mary's artistry equals something far superior than either of them could have produced individually. Of course, the ultimate synergetic relationship is the one where God participates!

God has given the church talents, abilities, gifts. I must never think my talent is superior, somehow better, than yours. You must never think your ability is more important than mine. We have both been blessed and should combine our strengths. It's God's way.

God bless us with the ability to work together!

Keep the faith,
Nathan

Daily Bible Message

1 Corinthians 12: Varieties of Gifts