Devotionals for May 27, 2022
See you this Sunday at 9:00am and 10:30am! We cannot wait to worship with you.
READ
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12–20
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
REFLECT
Sometimes we look up to and value spiritual Gifts which are most overt and obvious to see. I wish I could ____ like that person, is a thought which may have passed your mind before. At a more extreme level, some groups of Christians may believe possessing a single gift, like speaking in tongues, is the surest sign of salvation. But Paul puts all of that to rest in this passage: God chooses how He distributes His gifts for the benefit of the entire Body of Christ. If everyone only had the gift of healing, then how would others be encouraged, served, and guided by the Spirit? Rather, we all “drink of one Spirit” and express the Gift through a variety of gifts for the benefit of others. How God has given His Spirit to you is unique for serving the Body of Christ.
APPLY
Q: What does Paul mean by “we were all baptized into one body”?
Q: How are you exercising the gifts God has given you for the benefit of His Body?
Q: Pray for God to reveal to you how you can best serve His Body with the gifts He has given you.
Q: How are you exercising the gifts God has given you for the benefit of His Body?
Q: Pray for God to reveal to you how you can best serve His Body with the gifts He has given you.
SING
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Lord, thank you for giving me your Spirit so I can serve and love others as You love me. Keep me from the temptation to serve myself by holding onto the good gifts You have given me. Widen my heart to pour out to others the way You have for me. I love you and praise, God! Amen.
Lord, thank you for giving me your Spirit so I can serve and love others as You love me. Keep me from the temptation to serve myself by holding onto the good gifts You have given me. Widen my heart to pour out to others the way You have for me. I love you and praise, God! Amen.