“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1 Cor. 12:4-7

Beloved,

I love to give good gifts to my children. There is nothing like seeing my kids’ faces light up when they unwrap a present they love.  There is incredible joy in the unwrapping of a gift given from a father.  And God, our Father, loves to give gifts to His children. 

God gives all his children the manifestation of the Spirit in a variety of gifts.  Those gifts are expressed in a variety of activities and service, but it is the same God who empowers all our gifts.  We have to understand that God has given us a gift.  He wants us to unwrap our gifts so he can see our faces light up with joy as we exercise our gifts for his glory.  But notice that the gift God gives you individually is for a specific purpose: the Common Good. The common good is referring to the benefit of the body of Christ.  Our gifts are for the service and building up of others. God gives us gifts so we can be gifts to others. 

When God gives a gift to another member of our church that gift is also given to us as we are all part of the same body of Christ.  The church should never be jealous of each other’s gifts for all the gifts given to the body serve the common good. So we should rejoice when we see God gifting our brothers and sisters in Christ, for his gifting of them is also a gift to us.  The greatest challenge is that our brother’s gifting can only be unwrapped by our brother.  Although we can experience the blessing of the gift, we will only be able to experience it if our brother exercises or “unwraps” it for the common good.

Are you exercising your gifts for the common good?  Are you unwrapping your spiritual gifts to bless your brother and sister in the body of Christ? Or are you still holding your gift in your hands?

Beloved, take time this week to think and pray on how God has gifted you to serve the body of Christ. God gives gifts to his people for the common good.  True joy comes when we unwrap God’s good gifts to serve our brothers and sisters in Jesus’ Name for the glory of God. 

In Christ,

Pastor Dave