Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Bible Journaling 1 Corinthians 12-13


I love to journal in my girl's Legacy Bible. I love writing to her about what God teaches me through the Scriptures.  I ordered the Illustrated Faith "Created to Create" kit, and the second devotion was on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 about gifts.

" There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all."

I meditated on this chapter for 3 days before actually creating this entry into her Bible.  After doing some research, I found out that there are over 20 different spiritual gifts; however in 1 Corinthians, only a few are listed.  The thing that got to me though was what came after the list of gifts. 1Corinthians 12: 12-31 is about the Body of Christ.
12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts...21 The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without...25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy."
So the question came to me....

What does the section on gifts have to do with the section on the body exactly?  

There is a reason Paul wrote these side by side within the same chapter.

What was he really trying to tell the church? What do I want to tell my girl?


It suddenly hit me that the Corinthians were most likely comparing themselves to one another, thinking someone's gift was not worthy of honor, or that their gift was better than someone else's, or thinking they didn't need certain people in the church because their gift wasn't as "special" as another's.  The dreaded "Comparison Game."

Sounds familiar huh?

It did to me, anyway.

Paul was trying to remind the Corinthians that the Holy Spirit has gifted each person with a special gift that is beneficial to the body of believers.

There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.

The entire body of believers needs to rely on one another to make a stand for Christ and spread the Gospel.  Our gifts are meant to bring great unity to the church... not divide it.  To make us stronger where we are weak.  And the thing that binds all these gifts is LOVE according to 1 Corinthians 13.
"Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings or of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all.Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can brag. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all." 


THERE IS NO ROOM FOR COMPARISON!  You were created with a special gift- do not think that it is not good, or that it is not as great as someone else's gift.  You were created for a purpose and the body of believers NEEDS YOU!

JUST. AS. YOU. ARE.  

Please read what I wrote to my girl, because it's written to you too, Believer.


Keep using your gifts, whatever they are.  To the glory and benefit of God and others.  <3

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