Desire The Greater Gifts
Q. God Bless you and your ministry. You have helped me and countless others to grow in an understanding of God’s Word, and I thank you.
I also believe that not everyone has the same Spiritual Gifts, and that God gives them according to His perfect will; I also believe that our gifts don’t change, but that God sometimes gives us a gift we don’t have to fulfill a specific purpose. But I was reading I Corinthians 12 and found something that confused me. Verse 31 says,” But earnestly desire the greater gifts.” Also, I Cor. 14:1 says, “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
When he said “desire the greater gifts” and “especially that you may prophesy” was he speaking to those who didn’t know what their gifts are? Or am I missing something? Thanks in advance for your help!
A. Paul was encouraging us to desire the greater gifts because they do the most good for the Body of Christ. He used the gift of Prophecy as an example. Every body in Corinth wanted Tongues so they could show themselves to be more spiritual. Paul said he’s rather speak 5 words of instruction than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. (1 Cor. 14:18-20)
The Spirit distributes gifts to each of us as He sees fit, but wanting the greater gifts is an indication of our desire to do as much as we can to further the Kingdom and strengthen our brothers and sisters. I think Paul was implying that our willingness to help could influence His decision.
Website: www.gracethrufaith.com
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