Short Daily Devotional

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2022

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

27. You are Christ’s body – that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.

28. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”: apostles prophets teachers miracle workers healers helpers organizers those who pray in tongues.

29. But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Miracle Worker,

30. not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues.

31. And yet some of you keep completing for so-called “important” parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.

(The Message Holy Bible)

TOPIC: MEMBERS WITH DIFFERENT GIFTS TO SERVE THE BODY

It has been clearly taught that the Church is the body of Christ (vs. 12, 27) with many members. And since the Church has a mandate in Matthew 28:19, 20, the Holy Spirit gave gifts to the Church for the effective performance of the mandate.

The Church belongs to Christ and not individuals. So each member gifted by the same Spirit shall be accountable to Him regarding how he uses the particular gift graciously bestowed (vs. 28-30). It should be noted that the gifts, though different, are from the same Spirit (vs. 4-6, 13) and are meant to serve the body for a healthy living.

The members are not given the same gifts and no one member has all the gifts (see vs. 28, 29). Hence, all kinds of ‘services’ or ‘ministries’ which members offer are equally necessary and important (v. 5). No one gift is more important than the other. However, “The three ministries” mentioned in v. 28 (‘apostle’ ‘prophet’ and ‘teacher’) come before the others simply because they existed before the others.

The church in Corinth had to be built up first (John Hargreaves: 1978, 1991, 167). That doesn’t make other spiritual gifts inferior as they are all meant to serve different purposes for the edification of the whole body.

QUESTION: How much do you appreciate and use God’s gifts to serve Christ and edify His body?

PRAYER: Let me always appreciate the gift of God in me and use it for His glory alone, in Jesus name, Amen.