Not Meant to Divide

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 12

Scripture:
"…so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another." 1 Corinthians 12:25

Observation:
God ordained that the Spirit would distribute gifts in a manner that ensured there would be variety in gifting, variety in acts of service, and variety in outcomes. It adds to the unpredictable nature of God working through people. He did this so that we would be forced to lean on and depend upon each other.

Same spirit, same Lord, and same God. Paul lays this out in verses 4-6. No matter the gifting of people, all freely received from the Holy Spirit. No matter the uniqueness of the service, all serve the same Lord. No matter the outcome achieved, all are under the same sovereign God.

This chapter of the Bible is a very sad one. It is not sad because of what God teaches us; it is sad because the church today is still divided over the same issue. What God designed to pull us together, satan has used to create division.

Application:
I need to better pay attention to the uniqueness of each situation. I like formulas because they offer a repeatable process to produce a provable answer to a problem. When it comes to gifting and the working of the Spirit, things do not always lend themselves to formulas and tests. If I allow myself to lock into a method, I open myself up to deceit and I open the body of Christ up to division.

Prayer:
Helping people discover their gifting, find a place of service, and learn to respect the gifts of others is a constant challenge for me. The gifting of some relegate them to a background job no one ever sees. The gifting of another places them at the center of attention. With the former I struggle to make sure they are valued. With the later, I struggle to make sure they don't think more highly of themselves than they should. This creates a great deal of pain for me and it breaks my heart. We are all one body and my greatest desire is that the Church come to see that.

Prayer
Strengthen me today become an instrument of Yours in helping bring the body back together. As I navigate the conflict created by selfish interpretations regarding the distribution and value of gifts I pray that You protect me from anger, bitterness, frustration, and all the other land mines I encounter.

There is no lesser honor when it comes to gifts. I pray that You use the work of my ministry to allow each person to recognize their unique contribution and value to Your Kingdom purposes, to see their dependency on the other giftings and above all to recognize their need to do whatever they do out of pure love for Your Glory.