First Corinthians can feel like a beat-down. Paul isn’t happy with how the church is acting, and the past 11 chapters have all been about what they need to fix. The Corinthians were selfish, which caused lots of problems. Paul’s main point is that Christians should live selflessly and focus on others.
At this point in the book, we have a good idea of what not to do. We’ve looked at several ways we can put our own agendas over the needs of other Christians. Paul’s given us some practical things we can do to be selfless. But in the next 3 chapters, Paul will explain how we can live out an others-centered life in the context of the church, specifically in terms of building up the local church in the ways God’s gifted us.
In other words, Paul will show us what to do.
As we go through these chapters, we’ll discover that the way we choose the risky life all comes down to one word—love. Loving others is the greatest risk we could ever take. But we choose to love other Christians through our gifts so that all needs are met and so that the church reflects Jesus to the world.
Read through 1 Corinthians 12-13 today.
1Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10He 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. 11It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 12The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13Some 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. 14Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15If 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. 16And 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? 17If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.
19How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21The 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.” 22In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23And 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, 24while 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. 25This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
28Here 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. 29Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30Do 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! 31So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. 1If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 12-13 (NLT)
(We will read through chapter 14 later). Even though there’s a lot of content covered this week, there is a big idea that we can trace throughout all three chapters: selfless, sacrificial love. It’s the same love that risks living in an others-centered way. But now we’ll learn how we can individually express our love for God and his people through participation in the local church.
We’ll be looking at spiritual gifts a lot this week. Many churches offer spiritual gift assessments to encourage members to use their gifts in the local church. (And you will have a chance to do so soon). While those are great, it’s important we don’t lose the “why” behind using our gifts. (As Kimberly said during worship yesterday), our gifts aren’t for us. They’re for the church. We use them to love other Christians.
Look at your key ring. For most of us, all the keys, rewards cards, and clickers are bound together on a single ring. They’re united. Each item has a different function or purpose, but each is valuable and contributes to your life in some way. That’s what Paul’s getting at in these chapters. We’re all bound together through Jesus’s love. We should therefore function as a unit. The way we act toward each other should reflect the love Jesus has given us. Because he loves us, we give his love to each other.
The Holy Spirit uses us in different ways— Paul calls it spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are any talents or skills you have that the Spirit works through in order to help the church. These gifts we have are for others, not ourselves. We use them to serve other Christians in our local church because we love them.
What are some of your talents or skills? How has the Spirit used them in your church? How would you like them to be used by God?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
I believe a spiritual gift I have is connecting with children. It was a main reason why I joined cm and middle school. Not sure if I see the fruit being produced yet since I haven’t started middle school and not sure if the nursery kids learn from me. I think I want God to use me as an example of so him working thrugh me so the kids see it as well.
I think a skill that God has given me is the ability to relate to kids. This blossomed into serving middle schoolers. Even though it is seen as a very taxing thing to do, God gave me child like energy to match their level and be as engaging and as excited especially when it comes to learning about God’s word. I think something that I would like to do with my ability to further advance God’s kingdom would be the ability to relate to kids even outside of church and be able to share God’s love to them.