1Corinthians 12: 1 – 11

March 26, 2022

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

I have to admit that I have always had a problem with ascetics and those people who have carried the stigmata and folks who have visions of the Blessed Virgin. To me, they are the rarest form of Christians and can’t be counted among the rest of us. They are a breed apart and I can’t discuss them as I have no foundation for such a discussion. But I do not hold them in higher esteem than any other Christian.

“11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” This is something I stand on. We never really know what our gifts are – we never see ourselves very clearly but in a kind of circus funhouse mirror, warped and twisted images of ourselves but not a true representation of ourselves. We don’t know what our gifts are and maybe we’re not supposed to. But I know I’m a better writer of things concerning the Holy Trinity than I am a speaker of such things. I know that some of my friends are better at living a holy life than I am, or are better students of the Word than I am – any number of other attributes I don’t myself possess. He has given me this, you that, the other person that other gift and together we make the hands and feet of the One Body. It is enough for me to know that I am a member of the Body and I thank God, my heavenly Father, and my Lord Jesus Christ that I can say such a thing.

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