Tag Archives: 1 Corinthians 12-14

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2024 Bible Study — Spiritual Gifts Are Given to Build Each Other Up

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Corinthians 12-14.

A lot of times the way in which my Bible Reading schedule splits up the passages causes me to miss the context of certain passages.  Today’s passage is one where that is not true, by putting chapters twelve, thirteen, and fourteen together we get a much clearer understanding of the point Paul is making in chapter thirteen.  And probably a better understanding of twelve and fourteen as well.  In chapter twelve Paul tells us that we cannot point to a spiritual gift and say that “If you don’t have this gift, you don’t have the Spirit.”  He also tells us that we cannot say that we are better than someone else because we have a particular special gift or another, nor should we allow ourselves to think ourselves less than others because we do not have some particular spiritual gift or another.  Actually, he even addresses those who think that because they don’t have some gift which they think is more valuable that they are not saved.  Even when he lists certain gifts in order, he is referring to the order in which they appear in the Church, not their importance.

I wasn’t going to go there, but now that I have written the above I feel that I should.  I mean think about it.  If God did not send apostles, there would be no Church in a particular area.  Next, the local Church is going to need some prophets to understand what its mission is.  Once it knows what its mission is, it is going to need teachers to teach God’s word to the people to whom it has been called to minister.  Once people begin to be taught God sends those through whom He performs miracles to draw them to Him.  But none of these are more important than another.  We even see an example of this in Paul’s life.  Paul was an apostle, but he did not begin his ministry until a prophet revealed that God desired to send Barnabas and Paul (at that point known as Saul) on a missionary journey.  I am not going to go into much depth on the rest of the passage, but I want to point out that Paul tells us that NONE of these gifts have any value if we do not use them in love.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2023 Bible Study –The Spirit of God Will Manifest Itself in Followers of Christ So as to Display God’s Love

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Corinthians 12-14.

In today’s passage Paul writes about gifts of the Spirit.  He starts by telling us that no one speaking in the Spirit will curse or condemn Jesus, and no one will praise Jesus except by the Spirit.  Or to put that another way, only through the power of the Holy Spirit will anyone bring honor to Jesus and no one who brings disgrace to the name of Jesus has the Spirit working through them.  Paul writes that while there are different gifts, thee is only one Spirit.  He follows this up with something interesting.  He goes on to say that there are also different kinds of service and different kinds of working, both of which come from the same, singular Spirit.   Then he writes that each of us will receive a manifestation of the Spirit for the purpose of promoting the common good of the Body of Christ.  I draw two conclusions from what Paul writes here.  First, the Spirit will manifest in each and every follower of Christ in a way which will build up others in the Body of Christ.  Second, some of those manifestations will be in the performing of miracles and signs.  Others will have a manifestation of the Spirit which appears more mundane to those around them.

Paul writes that not everyone has the same gifts, not everyone has the same manifestation of the Spirit.  And that we should not think that we are better than others because we have a more glamorous gift of the Spirit, nor that we are inferior to others because we have a more mundane manifestation of the Spirit.   Paul applies the metaphor of the human body to the Church, the Body of Christ in order to make this point.  Paul writes that we should desire and seek the greater gifts (the way he writes this suggests that our desire for certain gifts may make it more likely that we get those gifts).  He then makes the point that the greatest gift of the Spirit is love for others.  Every thing else Paul writes about the gifts of the Spirit follow from what he writes about love.  If we utilize whatever gifts the Spirit gives us out of love for others, we will use them to build others up, not to gain honor and recognition for ourselves.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2021 Bible Study — Our Spiritual Gifts Must Be Built On A Solid Foundation

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Corinthians 12-14.

I love the fact that chapter 13, the “Love Chapter”, is in the middle of today’s passage, because that allows us to see it in the context Paul intended.  Obviously, this placement lets us know that love is a gift from the Holy Spirit.  Equally obvious, if we read it in this context we do not miss Paul’s message that love is the most important spiritual gift, that without love all other spiritual gifts have no value.  However, there is one point about what Paul tells us about love that we miss most of the time: we have a limited ability to choose which spiritual gifts we receive. Certainly, each and every one of us can ask the Holy Spirit for the gifts of love, faith, and hope in the knowledge that the Spirit will grant our request.  We can even be confident that the Spirit will give us more of those three if we ask for it.  If we desire other spiritual gifts we may ask for them as well, and if our request is truly to serve the will of God, we will likely be granted the gift we request.  There are limits to this ability to request the spiritual gifts we desire, because as Paul points out, the Body only needs so many eyes, or ears, or fingers.  So, aside from faith, hope, and love, there are conditions as to whether the Holy Spirit will grant us the gift(s) we desire.  The first condition being that our desire for that particular gift must be rooted in faith, hope, and love (most importantly in love).  The second condition being that the Body of Christ must not already have enough members who have that particular gift.  In fact, Paul tells us that we should look at the Body of Christ around us through the lens of love and request that gift which it is most in need of at this moment.  This may mean joyfully embracing a role which the world would consider demeaning.  Those who truly love as Paul describes love will never see it that way.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2020 Bible Study Using Our Spiritual Gifts With Love

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 12-14

I am glad that these three chapters all come up to be read on the same day, because they are so closely linked to each other.  First Paul makes clear that God’s Spirit gives different spiritual gifts to different people, but one spiritual gift does not make that individual superior to someone with a different gift.  Each of us is given a spiritual gift to enable us to fulfill a role in Christ’s Body.  We are each part of Christ’s Body and play an important role.  While we do not get to decide which spiritual gifts we will receive, there is nothing wrong with seeking those we desire…as long as we seek those gifts so that we can better serve others.  No matter how great the gifts we receive may be, they are worthless if we do not have love for others.  All too often we read chapter 13 in the context of marriage.  While Paul’s description of love is important for every married person to remember as they relate to their spouse, it is equally important for every person to remember as they relate to all of those around them.

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2019 Bible Study –Spiritual Gifts Require Love to Have Any Value

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 12-14

The Holy Spirit gives different spiritual gifts to different people.  The fact that someone does not have a particular gift does not indicate that they do not have the Holy Spirit.  There are three exceptions to this rule.  Everyone who has the Holy Spirit receives faith, hope, and love.  In fact, if we exercise our other spiritual gifts without love they are of no value whatsoever.  Paul even makes sure we know what it means to act in love:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

I generally try to rewrite in my own words the meaning of a passage, but this is such a perfect summary of love, and not just romantic love, but the love which God asks us to have for our neighbor.  

Before and after writing about the importance of love, Paul writes that we should desire the less flashy, less attention grabbing spiritual gifts more than their counterparts.  Speaking in tongues is a wonderful spiritual gift, but prophecy is more to be desired.  We should seek the ability to comfort those who are hurting more than the ability to shine in the spotlight.

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2018 Bible Study — The Gift Of Love

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

9Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 12-14.

    In today’s passage Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He tells us that the Holy Spirit gives each and every one of us gifts in order to make us able to fill the role which God has given us. However, the Holy Spirit gives each of us different gifts. God has not called us all to the same roles, so the Spirit has not given all of us the same gifts. Furthermore, we do not decide what gifts we need. After all, they are gifts, therefore the Giver will decide what to gift to give us. However, just as a parent takes into account what gifts a child desires, so God takes into account what we desire. Therefor we should desire the better gifts, which is not the same as desiring the most impressive gifts. One mistake we often make is to think that those with the most impressive spiritual gifts are the most important. Paul states in no uncertain terms that this is not the case. Those with the most “mundane” spiritual gifts are every bit as important as those with the flashiest spiritual gifts.

    In fact, the gift which we should all desire, and which the Spirit will give each of us if we do, is the gift of love. Speaking in tongues is wonderful, but if it is not paired with love it is just so much noise. The ability to prophecy is wonderfully useful, especially combined with great faith, but if the two of them are without love, they are completely and utterly worthless. There are people who seem to have no other spiritual gifts except the ability to love the most unlovable people. When I read chapter 13:4-7 I think of people I know like that. I would rather be one of them than someone who cares nothing for others but can make wonderful speeches and perform great wonders.

Daily Bible Study

December 1, 2016 Bible Study — Using The Gifts God Has Given Us

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 12-14.

    Today’s passage is perhaps the best of the readings in this daily Bible reading schedule. Not because the passage is so much better than others, but because these three chapters are all on the same topic, AND Paul’s thoughts on the topic do not run over into tomorrow’s passage (not did they start in yesterday’s). The topic which Paul covers in this passage is spiritual gifts.
    Each and every one of us has received a spiritual gift from God. God has given us these gifts for the common good (how the NIV and the NASB translate it), or to help each other (as the NLT translates it). Paul makes it very clear that we should not expect that everyone has the same spiritual gifts. One of the most important parts for us to remember is that each and every one of us has the gifts which God has chosen to give us, and we have those gifts because the Church needs us with those gifts. If we fail to use our gifts, the Church will be missing something which it needs. The focus of Paul’s writing here is that we should not look down on others because they do not have “glorious” gifts, nor should we look down on ourselves. However, he is also pointing out that God has a plan for us with the gifts He has given us.

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    Having compared the members of the Church to parts of the body, pointing out that the Church is the Body of Christ, Paul encourages us to seek the greater gifts. Then he proceeds to show us how to tell which gifts are greater. First and foremost the gifts we desire and strive for should be determined by our love for others. No matter what gifts we may have, if we do not have love for others, and use those gifts as expressions of our love for others, those gifts will do neither us nor anyone else any good. When we considering how we should use our gifts, Paul’s description of the characteristics of love in chapter 13 verses 4-7 should guide our actions:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Paul goes on to point out that the usefulness of the spiritual gifts will end, but that love, faith, and hope will have value through eternity. From there he gives us an example how love will guide our desire for greater gifts. Paul shows us how the gift of prophecy is more valuable than the gift of speaking tongues. His reason why we should desire the gift of prophecy more than the gift of speaking in tongues is that, except under certain rare circumstances, the gift of prophecy will be of more use to others while speaking in tongues will enrich only ourselves.