Daily Devotional for Thursday, July 31

The Diversity of the Gifts

“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit,” 1 Corinthians 12:8, 9.

I never cease to be amazed at how people that are called artists can be so similar at times and yet so different in their craft. Some painters are very good at nature scenes but cannot paint people. There are sculptors that only do well with certain types of media or specialize in certain types of sculptures. A person may be very artistic but only in one particular form of art and not another. They all may be considered artists, but their gifts differ greatly depending on the style or form of art they create.

While the Lord gives gifts to every person, they are all different. Some may have what would be considered the same type of gift, but they use it very differently or administer it in a way that is unique to them. Your gifts differ based on how God gifted you with them, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching” (Romans 12:6, 7). While these passages in 1 Corinthians and Romans give us a number of different gifts that people may have, these are not an all-inclusive list of gifts that people possess to be able to minister to one another. Because God has made you unique in so many ways, He uses great diversity in His gifts so that you will be able to help others in the most unique way that only you can.

REFLECTION

Could your unique spiritual gift be the one that someone in your church needs you to use? Are you withholding it because you think it is not what others want or need?

Tim Chambers