Aha! There you
are! Glad to have you back again for today’s Daily Bread. Today you’re in
for a special treat, because this part of Paul’s letter talks about
spiritual gifts. What are your spiritual gifts? That’s a question that you
can answer by asking yourself, What can I do to best serve the Lord? What
opportunities and talents has He given to me that I can use to glorify Him?
No matter what
your own personal spiritual gift(s) are, they’re important to God. Let me
give you something to think about. Let’s say you take the ingredient salt
out of all your food. Blahhhhh! It’s only salt. Most of the time it
dissolves and you can’t even see it, but it sure does make a difference.
Think of your spiritual gifts as an important ingredient, no matter how
small or how extensive they may be.
This is a
wonderful explanation by Paul, of how we’re all united in Christ and how we
all should depend on and appreciate one another. Let’s take a look.
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I have
information for you.
You know that you were Gentiles,
carried away into believing in these dumb idols,
just as you were led.
So I want you to understand,
that no man speaking by the
Spirit of God calls Jesus
accursed:
and that no man can say that
Jesus is the Lord,
unless he is speaking by the Holy Ghost.
Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same
Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations (ministries), but the same
Lord.
And there are different operations,
but it is the same God which works all in all.
But the
:
But all these work by that one and the selfsame Spirit,
giving gifts to every man individually as He wishes.
Just as the body is one, and has many members,
and all the members of that one body,
being many,
are one body:
so also is Christ.
By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jewish or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free;
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
For the body is not one member, but many.
If the foot shall say,
Because I am not the hand,
I am not part of the body;
is it therefore not part of the body?
And if the ear shall say,
Because I am not the eye,
I am not part of the body;
is it therefore not part of the body?
If the whole body were an eye,
how would it hear?
If the whole body were hearing,
where would be the smelling?
But now has God set the members every one of them in the
body,
as it has pleased Him.
And if they were all one part,
how could it be a body?
But now they are many members,
yet still, they are but one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand,
I have no need of you:
Also, the head cannot say to the feet,
I have no need of you.
No, but even more,
those members of the body which seem to be more feeble,
are necessary:
And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable,
on these we bestow more abundant honor;
and our unattractive parts have more abundant beauty.
For our handsome parts have no need: but God has arranged the body together,
having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked,
so that there should be no division in the body;
but that the members should have the same care for one
another.
And if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it;
or if one part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each is a particular
part.
And God has set some to serve in the church,
first