Week 44 1 Corinthians
In chapter twelve Paul’s talking about getting a gift from the Spirit of God.
When I’m giving someone a gift I usually try to figure out what he himself actually wants. Not what I want.
But Paul gives the sense that the Spirit’s gift is a kind of enhanced capacity that helps me do something he wants done. Paul says when we believe in the Lord: a spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
So it’s a means – a tool I can use – to benefit the church.
Technically I guess it shouldn’t matter to me what gift I get. But what if it does matter?
For example take the gift of Wise Advice. What happens if I get that aptitude but I don’t really want it? What if I want the Power to Heal the Sick instead? Well…from the sound of it I’m in a bit of a jam because Paul says: it is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
The Spirit doesn’t shop around for what he thinks I might like. He gives me what he wants me to have because the gift isn’t really for me anyway. It’s something I’m being given to pass on to the church. It’s for their benefit, not mine.
Note: quotes from I Corinthians 12:7 & 11 (NLT). Wise advice and healing are in 12:8-9.