1 Corinthians 12:31 English Standard Version (ESV) But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

This is the last line of scripture quoted yesterday. Did you notice it was incomplete? I normally place a letter after the verse number to indicate if the quote is the beginning, middle or end of that verse. In this case it would have been an A.

1 Corinthians 12:31 English Standard Version (ESV) But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Past experience with pastors and teachers has shown me that when a subject is being taught they will cut and paste scripture to stay focused on the point of the teaching. They do not want the congregation’s attention to drift.

The Holy Spirit does not cut and paste. He knows the whole truth and how it works together for the good in all of us. Desire gifts, but there is a better way. If there is a better way, why teach on the gifts? Why not just teach on the better way?

The answer is that God uses all aspects of this spiritual life to enact His will in reaching the lost. What is meaningful to one might not mean anything to the next. People respond differently and God will not limit His methods in reaching the lost to just one gift.

The better way is love, chapter 13 of 1^st Corinthians. What is not said about the operations of the gifts is they are done with love and not apart from love. That point might have been overshadowed by the great descriptions of love.

The first three verses of 1^st Corinthians 13 indicate that the gifts can be operated without love. The problem with doing that is that the gifts are being used apart from the will of God. The will of God is how things get done. Verse 13:3 ends with “I gained nothing.”

Micah 6:8 English Standard Version (ESV) He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Let us begin first by acknowledging that the Lord has told us what is good. There is within this verse a level of expectation of performance, to be just, to love and to be humble. The Lord knows how we will accomplish all three at one time. We have expectations based on prior performances on our part.

I ended yesterday with these words; “Or do we look for new orders because of self-interest?”

We are taught we will grow in Christ. Our reference points are human growth, diet, and wisdom. We each have an understanding of what human growth looks like and will apply our spiritual growth with those same standards. That is a mistake.

We are involved and responsible for human growth. Spiritual growth is the purview of the Holy Spirit. During our training cycle we will often test ourselves to see if any of the training took. Those test often take on the form of comparing ourselves to others. We have been warned not to do that and that is from a human prospective. We still operate in the flesh despite all good intentions.

1 Corinthians 12:27-31 English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

The trap of the flesh creates a desire based on self-interest. “That looks easy, I can do that!” “He is respected and I want to be respected, so I’ll do that.” “I’m better at that. I should take over.” “I’m not satisfied in doing this. I need satisfaction in what I do.”