Gift-distributing Love

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Letitia Shelton
5 years ago
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1 D ay 2 9 Gift-distributing Love If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1 The Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, is one of the most beloved chapters in the whole Bible. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves that Paul wedged the Love Chapter between two chapters about spiritual gifts and relationships among Christians. The gifts Paul wrote about are the special talents Christians exercise that help the body (the local church). Paul mentioned these gifts by name: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues (1 Corinthians 12:7 10). Paul instructed the Corinthians about these gifts, but right in the middle he stopped, grabbed their attention,

2 Day s l i v i n g t h e J e s u s C r e e d and gave a little sermon on love. Love, he told them, drives the gifts or they cease being gifts. We may be justifiably proud of the gifts God has given to us. We may delight in what God enables us to do. And we may be intoxicated with our fidelity to orthodoxy and our commitment to being right. We may have all these things and still, to quote Gordon Fee, our life before God adds up to zero if our gifts are not swept into love for others. If our spiritual gifts are not animated by love, they are little more than business transactions. How can our gifts be shaped by loving others? hold your hands out before god to receive your gift as a gift Maybe we need to remind ourselves today that the gifts we have really are gifts not something we created. Paul s words in chapter twelve makes this abundantly clear: and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone (12:6). When you give a gift to someone, what does the receiver do? He or she simply reaches out and accepts the gift from you. Billy Graham had the gift of evangelism, but he didn t become an evangelist by his own choice; Mother Teresa didn t get passion for the poor of Calcutta by application to the home office; and John Stott didn t grow up

3 G i f t - d i s t r i b u t i n g L o v e 149 knowing his name would become synonymous with clear Bible teaching. To each of these God gave the gift of evangelism, compassion, or preaching. We might not be Billy Graham or Mother Teresa or John Stott, but God has given each of us gifts. Let us stretch out our arms with thanks to God, for God gave these gifts to us. They are not ours; they are God s gifts to us. We give thanks to God and his gracious love for what we have received. distribute our gift to others To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, wrote Paul (1 Corinthians 12:7). Notice those last four words, for the common good. Spiritual gifts are much like the money handled by tellers at a bank: those coins and bills are not theirs to keep. They are given the task to distribute the money to others. Do our gifts bring attention to ourselves? Do our gifts lead us to think we are special and important and even perhaps indispensable? Are our gifts building a little name for ourselves that we have given a brand and now are marketing? Paul wants us to see that we are distributors of grace. God has given us something, not so we can bundle it all up into safe storage for ourselves or market it to the world,

4 Day s l i v i n g t h e J e s u s C r e e d but so that we can give it as a gift to others. When we see ourselves as gift-distributors rather than gift-gatherers, we begin to exercise those gifts with a Jesus Creed kind of love. be more aware that everyone else has a gift, too Perhaps we need to look around to see that we are not the only one with a gift from God. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 12:7). To each. In football, some are asked to block, others to run, another to pass, and yet another to catch. Linemen don t grouse if they don t get to pass, and quarterbacks don t complain if they don t get to block. Each person has an assignment. When each person does their assignment, the team accomplishes its goals. The church is like a football team. You and I are not the only ones who have an assignmentgift. Each of us has a spiritual assignment. Only when we see that our gift is part of the team called the body of Christ do we convert our gifts into the service of love for others.

5 G i f t - d i s t r i b u t i n g L o v e 151 Facing this day: God empowers us to use our gifts in love for others. Scriptural focus: All these [gifts] are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. 1 Corinthians 12:11

But the greatest. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

But the greatest. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 But the greatest 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 But the greatest 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2