1 CORINTHIANS 12

Heart Issues
I have struggled through this issue of spiritual gifts so many times. This time while I read, I had to put out of my mind any issue of debate or division among denominations. When I did that I experienced a freshness in this chapter and an appreciation for the gifts that God has given us through the Holy Spirit. I also was renewed again by thinking about the body of Christ and our great need for others’ gifts. We don’t need to reject each other as different but appreciate what God has done in the lives of other denominations and believers. When we stand united not as a denomination, but as the body of Christ God is glorified. I was also challenged today in my thinking of the sovereignty of God as I looked through verse 3. Only God can enable someone to call Jesus the Lord of their lives. The Holy Spirit is the only enabler of this phrase and also no Christian can curse Jesus if the Holy Spirit is alive and active within him. God knows what he’s doing and He is fully in control of even our very words, which is impossible to comprehend as He allows us to make mistakes.

Notes
-Paul is responding to their questions about spiritual gifts. They put a great deal of emphasis on these and as we know from the rest of the book they used them in a very disorderly way.
-Paul wants to inform us to keep us from having divisions and fighting over truth. Scripture is our foundation, not our feelings.
-Verse 3 really spoke to me in knowing that God is the author of all things and He enables people to call Him lord.
-All spiritual gifts come from the same spirit. There are not multiple or better spirits, He just manifests himself differently through us to build up the body of Christ. It is not for personal gain, but for the building up of the church. V. 7
-The body of Christ is such an image that we must understand. We need to work together and encourage each other’s gifting. We do not expect everyone to be just like us and we need not only eyes and mouths, but feet and hands as well. Every part is important in the body of Christ and God honors the least of these.
-We are called to earnestly desire the greater gifts.