Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Today's Passage

1 Corinthians 12:7

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

The various gifts are for the benefit of people. The purpose of gifts is not for the benefit of oneself. Those with gifts are not to use the gift on themselves, but to serve one another. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not to exalt oneself above others, not to build one's own kingdom, but to build up the body of Christ, to build up others. Only when the gifts are exercised, can the church and believers be benefitted. We need to desire for gifts. The Bible talks about all kinds of spiritual gifts, especially in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

One of the first reasons people oppose to gifts is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:8, "Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away". However, if you look closely at this passage, it refers to when Jesus comes back again, not now. The second reason is that we do not belong to the same era as the apostles, thinking that the times of the apostles are different from today's church and that the apostles have different rights and gifts that no longer exist in today's church. The Chinese church has long been influenced by wrong theological teachings. The truth is there is only one church era. You and I belong to the same church era as the apostles. It is one church, one body, sharing the same grace and same rights. Who can say that we now belong to a different church from the early church? Read the New Testament. Who can say that this part is not for you, or this promise is not for you? No one can stop us from having the privileges of the New Testament, the promises and teachings of the New Testament. May the Lord help us to understand the rights we have in Christ.

There is a third reason, many people opposed to gifts of the Holy Spirit because of the bad witness. Indeed, in the history of the church, there are many people who have abused the gift. But how can we fully negate God's grace because of some bad examples? Should we deny the 12 apostles because Judas was part of them? Should we deny Paul because he worked with Demas who loved the world? Just as it is recorded in the Bible, Jesus did many miracles in Nazareth because the locals do not believe. Pray for open hearts to welcome the Holy Spirit so that different gifts may be exercised to the benefit of all.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, we praise you because you give gifts to us so that we may be benefitted. Let us have the correct understanding of your gifts, and therefore build up the whole church so we may be effective in helping people around us. We thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!