1 Corinthians 12: 27 All of
you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it. 28 In
the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second
place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform
miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others
or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues. 29 They
are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to
work miracles 30 or to heal diseases or to speak in
strange tongues or to explain what is said. 31 Set
your hearts, then, on the more important gifts.
Best of all,
however, is the following way.
============
Trying my hand at
art, I drew some things, but I quickly realized I was not as good as the gifted.
I would read books on how to draw more realistic, but the innate talent just
was not there. I decided to admire those who had greater ability than me rather
than pursuing their gift.
- I began to value others for what they could do.
- I started understanding I need others who can do many things better than myself.
- I saw more value in what people brought to the table when I accepted my deficit.
Paul goes into a
history lesson that could be mistaken as a hierarchy. He had just mentioned
that everyone is equal, Jew and Gentile. He then explains that CHRIST put the
apostles in place to spread the Good News. He then explains that other people,
with various gifts, followed. While these gifts were nice to have, everyone should
pursue the greatest gift, namely love.
My Observation
- GOD wants me to value other people who gave their life to HIM.
- GOD wants me to see that I need other people to complete HIS church.
- GOD wants me to recognize other people’s talents to serve HIM in HIS church.
Admiring what people
do for GOD is highly acceptable. I mean seeing someone serve or heal or speak a
certain way is a good thing to do. If I envy someone versus admiring them, then
I have a problem. GOD has given each person a special gift that is to be used
to bring people to HIM.
HE wants me to use
this gift as often as I can. I can admire what others do, but all of us are
supposed to learn how to love each other the way GOD intended. I am glad there
are many other people, who I can learn from, who have the talent to bring people
to the saving knowledge of JESUS.
Challenge
- What qualities do you admire?
- How does envy get in the way of admiration?
- Do you feel you are valued for the gifts you are using for the growth of GOD’s kingdom?
- Will you seek to add love as one of your learned gifts today?
No comments:
Post a Comment