We Were All Given
The Same Spirit To
Drink
The Holy Spirit is
given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some
people the Spirit gives the message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives
the message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that
one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles.
To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to
tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different
kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the
ability to explain what was said in those languages.
All of the gifts are
produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives them to each person, just as he
decides.
There
is one body. But it has many parts. Even though it has many parts, they make up
one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit
into one body. It didn't matter whether we were Jews or Greeks, slaves or free
people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink.
The body is not made
up of just one part. It has many parts. Suppose the foot says, "I am not a
hand. So I don't belong to the body." It is still part of the body. And
suppose the ear says, "I am not an eye. So I don't belong to the
body." It is still part of the body.
If the whole body
were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it
smell? God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be.
1
Corinthians 12:7-18
We are all part of
God’s team. But individual talent will only take the team so far. A willingness
to fit into selfless play is far more important than talent. Team success, not
individual glory, is the priority. The biblical call to service has a similar
emphasis. In God’s purposes, each believer does his or her part, but the
results are team-oriented.
When we use the
skills God gives us, His purposes are accomplished, and He gets the glory. In God’s service, it’s not about being the best, the
most talented, or the most gifted. It is about being the right people joining
together to serve the same team.
There are
no unimportant people in the body of Christ.
Our Daily Bread –