If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 HCSB
Paul compared our spiritual gifts with body parts. A church is made up of members with various spiritual gifts just as a body is made up of numerous parts working together. Members of the church should use their spiritual gifts to work together to build up fellow members and in doing so build up the church.
In Warren Weirsbe’s book, Be Wise, a commentary on 1 Corinthians he explained that Paul was trying to point out in chapter 13 that the use of spiritual gifts not being motivated by love makes the gifts useless. Also, using spiritual gifts to build up the receiver is useless as it does nothing to build up fellow members and the church.
People are often confused about the whole speaking in tongues issue. In Acts at the Pentecost, there were people there who spoke different languages. But when they all came together, everyone was understanding each other because people were speaking languages they did not know. For example, if I was speaking to someone who was Spanish speaking only, but I don’t speak Spanish I could receive the gift of speaking in Spanish so that a Spanish person could understand me, and I could understand them. But if I spoke Greek to someone who spoke Spanish, they still would not understand me so it would be useless.
Paul has compared spiritual gifts to parts of a body. In a church we find many different spiritual gifts making up one body, the church. This is like having many different parts making up our physical bodies. One part is not more important than the other because they must all work together. He explains this in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
God gives many different spiritual gifts to different people. We all have a gift to be used even if we haven’t quite figured out what it is yet. There is a website, giftstest.com, that explains the various spiritual gifts and also offers a thorough multiple-choice test free of charge if you would like to find out what your spiritual gift is.
God gives us these gifts to lift others up, not put them down. He gives us these gifts to build up the church, not to cause division or tear the church down.
When a person begins to believe their gift is more important than another’s gift or their voice and opinion is more important than another this can lead to hurt feelings and division. This is a misuse or even an abuse of a spiritual gift.
These spiritual gifts are to be motivated by love for others and our love for the Lord. It’s something we should use to serve the Lord and others.
There are numerous spiritual gifts, and I assure you, you have at least one of them. Determine what it is and put it to good use today. Let the use of your gift be motivated by love.
God doesn’t give us these gifts to sit them on a shelf, He gives them to us to use to benefit others and to serve Him by serving the church. Trust in Him today. Pray for Him to not only help you to discern what your gift is, but to also help you to put it to good use.
Whatever your gift may be, remember it’s not about you, it’s about using it in love to help others and serve the Lord. And it should always be motivated and used in love.
Have a great day!