Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Ephesians 4:30 The Message
To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 1 Corinthians 12:1 NIV
Understanding Spiritual Gifts
1. They are a
.
2. The Holy Spirit distributes them as
.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them… 1 Corinthians 12:4 NIV
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. 1 Corinthians 12:11 NIV
3. They are given for the
.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 1 Corinthians 12:7 NLT
4. The exercise of each person’s gift is
for the local church to
.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-19 NIV
I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue…So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” I Corinthians 14:18-19,23-25 NIV
What’s Next?
1.
the gifts the Holy Spirit has for me.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Romans 12:6 NIV
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well…All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16 NIV
God’s
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 14:1 NIV
2.
the gifts He has given me.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you. 2 Timothy 1:6 NIV
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it…So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:7,11-13 NIV
3.
the gifts God has given me.
God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you. 1 Peter 4:10 NLT
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. I Corinthians 12:31-13:3 NIV