Spiritual Gifting

There is amazing love in Christ.  But that same love is not childish but adult in it’s very nature.

                1 Corinthians 13: 1-8a (NIRV)

¹ Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings and of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. ² Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all. ³ Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give my body to be burned. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all.

⁴ Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs.

⁶ Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. ⁷ It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.

⁸ Love never fails….

Many of us have heard this passage in one form or another.  It is most often used as a passage at weddings and as an example of what marriage could be like.  The context of the passage is actually about spiritual gifts and how love should permeate the operation of these gifts. However, marriage is also good example for understanding the type of relationship that is required for the operation of spiritual gifts.  But first let’s explore the marriage of Christ to the Church.

Ephesians 5:25-32 (NIRV)

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives. Love them just as Christ loved the church. He gave himself up for her. ²⁶ He did it to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her with water and the word. ²⁷ He did it to bring her to himself as a brightly shining church. He wants a church that has no stain or wrinkle or any other flaw. He wants a church that is holy and without blame.

²⁸ In the same way, husbands should love their wives. They should love them as they love their own bodies. Any man who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, people have never hated their own bodies. Instead, they feed and care for their bodies. And that is what Christ does for the church. ³⁰ We are parts of his body.

³¹ Scripture says, “That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two will become one.” (Genesis 2:24)  ³² That is a deep mystery. But I’m talking about Christ and the church.

The first part of the above verse (the easy to grasp part) is talking about Jesus’s tremendous love for us, that He was willing to give Himself up to crucifixion that we might be made holy. The second part continues this thought with a beautiful picture of Jesus washing the Church, by which he subjected himself to ritual uncleanness that we might be made ready for baptism.  (Or better said- full immersion into the way of Christ)

All this is in the context of Paul's instruction for husbands to love their wives.  Like Jesus, husbands are called to take the more difficult path.  Husband’s should humble themselves for their wives’ benefit.  But it also speaks of Jesus’s love in general:  that we, like Jesus, should be willing to humble ourselves on behalf of those that are not yet spiritually clean, sharing with them the Words of God, that through His Words they might be cleansed for the washing that leads to repentance and redemption.

               

Matthew 18:3 (NIRV)

³ Jesus said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You need to change and become like little children. If you don’t, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

1 Corinthians 13:11-13 (NIRV)

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I had the understanding of a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

¹² Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely.

¹³ The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.

There is an interesting contrast between the two above scriptures.  You must become like children to enter the Kingdom of God, and you are to leave childish ways behind once having entered and are dwelling in the kingdom.  Even though we are told to become like children we are not called to be a spiritual infants with the limited understanding of a child. We are called to put our childish ways behind us and move forward to become spiritual men and women, fully fit and mature for the kingdom of God. 

As this maturity pertains to spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts are just that…Gifts, not rewards or rights!  If we approach spiritual gifts with the same humbleness as described in Ephesians 5:25-32 above,  it  makes sharing spiritual gifts so much easier.  As a Husband humbles himself for his wife’s benefit, how much more should we humble ourselves for the benefit of others.  After all, Isn’t that what true servant hood is all about?  And isn’t that is our true calling in Christ?  To serve one another!

In my own experience I have found that with humbleness comes a desire to respond to the Lord’s urgings and sharing with others.  This also takes the fear or stigma away from the supernatural  because we are in relationship with one another.  This way we can over time become vulnerable and transparent in our sharing as we build trust.

I believe the reason that Paul used marriage as a template to describe spiritual gifts is that he was trying to say that spiritual gifts are most effectively administered in established relationships where accountability is paramount.  In other words 'We need each other!"  Each of us has an important part in the Kingdom of God, and each part is essential.

When we meet together God liberally gives gifts to men for the express purpose building up of the body of Christ.  I implore you, share your gift!  If you are unaware of your spiritual gift then ask God.

James 1:5 (NIRV)

⁵ If any of you need wisdom, ask God for it. He will give it to you. God gives freely to everyone. He doesn’t find fault.

↓ Click the red & white arrow below to listen to the song

Jesus Paid It All

Songwriter: Elvina M. Hall -1865

I hear the Savior say,

Thy strength indeed is small!

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all

CHORUS:
Jesus paid it all

All to Him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

Lord, now indeed I find

Thy power, and Thine alone,

Can change the leper's spots

And melt the heart of stone

REPEAT CHORUS

For nothing good have I

Where-by Thy grace to claim

I'll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calvary's Lamb

REPEAT CHORUS

And when before the throne

I stand in Him complete

Jesus died my soul to save

My lips shall still repeat

REPEAT CHORUS 2X

Performed by:  Fernando Ortega

Copyright: Word Music LLC, New Spring Publishing Inc., Dejamesolo Music

The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only.