Gifts Used for Others – 1 Corinthians 12

A text – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant. ² You know that when you were gentiles you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. ³ Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, ⁵ and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

A reflection:

Paul is writing to a congregation in a diverse city at a crossroads of travel and trade, where differences abounded. People of many traditions, nationalities, faiths, and interests were sort of thrown together at Corinth, so the church there had believers from many different backgrounds. It was hard for them to be unified about anything. Paul says many times in many ways to them: Our unity is IN CHRIST – the man, the Son of God, who was crucified and raised to life again so that, when we die, we might be raised, too. That’s one thing we all agree upon. Maybe the only thing.

Some of the believers in Corinth had spiritual gifts, some claiming certain gifts were superior to other gifts. This led to smugness and conflict. It would lead you and me there, too, without the reminder Paul gives: These gifts are to be used not for your own status. They are to be used for the common good. Common, as in what we hold in common as a congregation, but also common, as in for the good of the whole world, not just us believers. The congregation was the Body of Christ. It was the community who embodied exactly who Christ is and what Christ has given to human beings, living out these things to the wider world. Paul is saying that if the Holy Spirit is giving out gifts, they are to be used to serve others, just the way Jesus served us.

If you think of the gifts you received this Christmas, can you think of any that can be used for serving others? If you think of the gifts you gave to others this Christmas, which of them might be used to help the person you gave them to become a better servant to others? God’s gifts to us are meant to make the circle of believers bigger, more complete, more grounded in our relationships with God and with one another. So the more diverse our gifts, the better our service to each other, those we love, and those we don’t even know yet. Whatever gift you have, use it! Make everyone’s life better, fuller, more abundant.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the gifts and grace you shower upon us. Help us to remember all the things you’ve given us, and help us to use them all the time for ourselves and for the world you love so much. Amen.