Today’s Bible Reading:
Judges 1-3; 1 Corinthians 12
Topic: Spiritual Gifts
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:1
Now about spiritual
gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. (1 Cor 12:1 NIV)
OBSERVATION:
This simple, straight forward sentence is clearly addressed
to Christian believers (“brothers”). It is a subject, therefore, that not all
people will understand; but that Christians need to grasp. God wants us to be
knowledgeable about the gifts He distributes among us—what His gifts are; what
they are for; how they work. They are “spiritual” gifts, and therefore must be realized
in our spirits, not our minds alone.
APPLICATION:
Today there is a plethora of assessments people may take to
discover their personality traits, leadership styles, how they tend to lean in
different life and work situations, etc. Depending upon the particular
evaluation, people may be classified as being predominately a certain color,
animal, personality trait, introvert or extrovert, passive or aggressive… Some
of these may be quite useful, but as a Christian teacher, I must first
emphasize teaching God’s gifts from both an academic and a spiritual
perspective. I am charged with making disciples, and Paul admonishes that
Jesus’ disciples are not to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.
PRAYER:
Lord, grant unto me intellectual and spiritual understanding
of Your gifts, and the ability to impart that knowledge effectively to Your
disciples.
Through Christ. Amen.
-AP
No comments:
Post a Comment