Gifts of the Spirit
Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
What a blessing it is to be on the receiving end of God’s amazing gifts!
First of all, we receive the gift of salvation even though we don’t deserve it and can’t earn it. It comes freely to us through the Holy Spirit from Jesus, who paid for our sins with his own sinless life and then rose again, conquering death for our sake.
And there’s more: as Paul makes clear in our reading today, with salvation in Jesus we also receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Now, salvation and the Spirit’s presence are gifts to be shared. How absurd it would be to take Jesus’ love and not share it with the world. That would be, as someone has said, like being a mail carrier and keeping all of the good mail for yourself!
The gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives helps us to share the love of Jesus in the world, and each of us also has gifts to use for the benefit of others. We do that by bringing our gifts to the task of building up the body of Christ, the church, and by sharing God’s love with all the people around us.
Give thanks today for salvation in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. And ask the Spirit today to reveal his gifts in your life so that you can share Jesus and strengthen the church.
Holy Spirit, we praise and thank you for our salvation in Jesus, and we humbly ask you to help us use the gifts you have given us to share Jesus and build your church. Amen.
About the author — Kurt Selles
Kurt Selles is the director of ReFrame Ministries and serves as the Executive Editor of Today. He is a graduate of Calvin College and Seminary, and received his PhD from Vanderbilt University. Before coming to ReFrame, he served 19 years in Taiwan and China with CRC World Missions. Kurt later taught missions at Beeson Divinity School, where he also acted as the director of the school’s Global Center. Kurt and his wife, Vicki, reside in Grand Rapids and have three adult children.
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