Unity Among Believers
One of the last things Jesus prayed for was unity for His believers, and ultimately for the Church. And that would only be possible by the Holy Spirit. If it was just up to us, we’d mess it up for sure (and have!). But by God’s Spirit, and the gifts He has given us, we can look around to others who have the abilities we lack and come together as the body of Christ to honor Him.
He’s a summary of what I think Paul is saying with all of these scriptures and spiritual gifts shift our focus from “me” to “we”:
Gifts of the Spirit help us seek unity. We can and are all united by the Spirit, even if we’re divided over different things, by geography, or secondary beliefs.
Gifts of the Spirit help us see diversity. All Christians don’t have the same gifts, and no Christian has all of the gifts. We have a diversity of gifts that help bring us together.
Gifts of the Spirit grow us in maturity. The Spiritual gifts of other people help us mature in faith. We’re not all teachings or have the gift of prayer or compassion. But collectively, we help and push each other towards growth by the Spirit.
Gifts of the Spirit help us understand necessity. We need each other, plain and simple. The gifts help us seek out others with the gifts we don’t have, like teaching, praying, helping, serving, and leading. We need them all, and each other!
Gifts of the Spirit reinforce community. People aren’t to be used for their gifts. We’re to do life together. We should desire to interact with, eat with, pray with, worship with, and do life with those of the body of Christ.
3 Questions to Consider
Spiritual gifts are an incredible way of realizing that God is working through us.
God could have chosen any way to bring glory to Himself in this world. He could have done it all Himself, but instead, He has chosen to use us to build up one another and to reach the lost through His Spirit. It is not only an incredible privilege, but also (hopefully) an incredible joy to serve Him with the gifts He has given us. It is pure genius by God to give only a few, or at the most, only some of the gifts to followers of Christ. It causes us to seek out one another, listen to the Spirit, and realize that not only as individuals, but more importantly, as the body of Christ, are glorifying God as we use our spiritual gifts.
To make it practical here are three questions to think about this week:
1. What spiritual gifts have you been given? If you don’t know, try taking a spiritual gift assessment class at your church or online.
2. How can you glorify God with your gifts? Look for opportunities to serve, don’t just let them come to you!
3. Who can you help grow with your gifts? Personalizing our gifts is a great way to use them. Rather than just thinking about their use, think about who can benefit from your gift.
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