14:1 Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual `gifts', but rather that ye may prophesy.
Paul taught the Corinthians that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).” Yet two verses later he writes, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)?” This problem is still very prevalent in the church today.
Like the Corinthians, many of us fall into the trap of believing we are spiritual because we operate in spiritual gifts while Paul illustrates that our actions truly show how spiritual we are ( See also Galatians 5:17-26). This deceptive trap ultimately stems from pride and lack of understanding which I believe is why the Bible continually emphasizes the importance of humility, love, knowledge, wisdom, and truth.
Paul said in Galatians 6:3, “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” and in 1 Corinthians 3:18 he said “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” We must keep in mind that we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9).
We must also keep in mind that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” God did not take away the gifts from the church in Corinth even though there were not in His will and neither will He take away our gifts if we are not in His will. Therefore, we must be even more certain to pursue His will which is to walk “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2-3).”
So what then? Do we neglect our gifts to protect ourselves from this trap? Of course not! Paul said to “pursue love and desire spiritual gifts” and once we understand why the Lord has given us spiritual gifts we will recognize that they’re for unity in love and truth (1 Corinthians 14:1).
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:
“ When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:7-16).” |
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