“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and
there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of
activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each
is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1 Cor. 12:4-7
Beloved,
I love to give good gifts to my children. There is nothing
like seeing my kids’ faces light up when they unwrap a present they love. There is incredible joy in the unwrapping of
a gift given from a father. And God, our
Father, loves to give gifts to His children.
God gives all his children the manifestation of the Spirit
in a variety of gifts. Those gifts are
expressed in a variety of activities and service, but it is the same God who
empowers all our gifts. We have to
understand that God has given us a gift.
He wants us to unwrap our gifts so he can see our faces light up with
joy as we exercise our gifts for his glory.
But notice that the gift God gives you individually is for a specific
purpose: the Common Good. The common good is referring to the benefit of the
body of Christ. Our gifts are for the
service and building up of others. God gives us gifts so we can be gifts to
others.
When God gives a gift to another member of our church that
gift is also given to us as we are all part of the same body of Christ. The church should never be jealous of each
other’s gifts for all the gifts given to the body serve the common good. So we
should rejoice when we see God gifting our brothers and sisters in Christ, for
his gifting of them is also a gift to us.
The greatest challenge is that our brother’s gifting can only be
unwrapped by our brother. Although we can
experience the blessing of the gift, we will only be able to experience it if
our brother exercises or “unwraps” it for the common good.
Are you exercising your gifts for the common good? Are you unwrapping your spiritual gifts to
bless your brother and sister in the body of Christ? Or are you still holding
your gift in your hands?
Beloved, take time this week to think and pray on how God
has gifted you to serve the body of Christ. God gives gifts to his people for
the common good. True joy comes when we
unwrap God’s good gifts to serve our brothers and sisters in Jesus’ Name for
the glory of God.
In Christ,
Pastor Dave
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