One in Spirit

Jesus Is Lord
Victory in Jesus
One in Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 12:4-13

The Message

^4-11 God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:

wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues.

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

^12-13 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

For Reflection

Why is it that we often fear that which is different?  Does our arm out of fear, ridicule our hand for having fingers?  Do we hold our finger nails to a higher standard because we fear they may end as poorly as our thumb nails?

Do we speak ill of our heart because it behaves differently than our lungs?  Do we ostracize our brain because we don't fully understand it?

Of course not.  In fact to pose these questions seems silly.  Then, why do we do we not find it silly to evaluate others according to their talents, or social status, or wealth, or philosophy or religion, or political positions, or color of their skin, or country of origin, or hair color, or size, or culture or ...?

If God sees no significant difference in these things, why should we?  If God distributes talents to all people why should we denigrate those whose talents and purpose we cannot understand?

Pray

that you will remember that we are all made in the image of God.  Thank God for the differences that fulfill His intentions for His Kingdom.  Praise God for the unique talents He has given you.  Pray that ail people will see God, the father, the spirit and the son in each life they encounter.  Pray that you will love those who cannot see God in themselves.