Gifts, Blessings and Rewards

I have been reminded today about blessings.  I was reading today in 1 Corinthians 4:7 as well as other places but verse 7 seemed to stick in my mind, it says this, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

In the context of this verse it is talking about spiritual leaders and how it is easy to attach ourselves to one or another, for instance, one who may have led you to the Lord or may have helped you in some very special way.   Being loyal to just one person can cause divisions and we shouldn’t allow our loyalty to cause fighting, quarreling, slander or separation to take place in the church.  Our strongest commitment and loyalty should be to the Lord, and not man, for man receives nothing that he hasn’t received from the Lord.

Saying all that, what seemed to stick to my mind this morning was just part of that verse that says this, “And what do you have that you did not receive?”  This helps me to keep things in the right perspective and I hope it will also help you.  When we become believers, each of us receives gifts, and not all of us have the same gifts.  Some of these gifts seem more important than other gifts, so if we aren’t careful we can think of ourselves as more important than someone else, and that is called pride.  It might help to understand who gave each person their gifts because we did not possess them; they were given by the Holy Spirit, so no one could boast about the gifts they have been given.

It says this in 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 concerning spiritual gifts, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

Think of this, the church is made up of many people and each one is very important and all their gifts are essential for the success of the body to function as one part.  If we could just get ahold of this fact and be willing to accept the gift we have been blessed with, we would be so much better off and instead of being jealous of someone else and causing friction and problems, we would be content and use our gifts to edify the body instead of competing against one another.

Just being a born-again believer is such a blessing that the good Lord made possible for us and having received gifts from the Holy Spirit is truly another great blessing, so instead of wishing we had someone else’s gifts, let’s be happy with what we have received and strive to use them to edify the church and also to glorify the Lord!!  If we could learn this concept and apply it, so much more could be accomplished by the church because when everyone is working together for the betterment of the body, things run much smoother and it will bring forth the Lord’s blessings where they are needed.  Something to think about!  God bless and have a great day and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!