1 Corinthians 7:7 English Standard Version (ESV) I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

The subject of 1 Corinthians 7 is marital advice from a man who is not married to a woman. He admits that the advice he is giving is from the Lord. This comment about wishing that all men were like himself sounds like he wants men to remain single. Some would argue that point to distraction.

What if Paul is really saying that he wishes that all of us should find and use our gifts in accordance with God’s will for each of us? That will take our thoughts from the issue of marriage advice but it is a point worthy of exploring.

Can we pull ourselves away from what we think long enough to hear what the Holy Spirit is telling us in any moment? There will be times in our studies that something else is at work in the Word besides just the subject matter. This is just one possible example. I will not judge you if you disagree. It is not worth arguing over.

Ephesians 4:8 English Standard Version (ESV) Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

This quote is in reference to Psalm 68:18 King James Version

¹⁸ Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

I prefer the KJV here over the ESV because it is clearer to me that the Father gave those gifts to Jesus and our access to those gifts is only through Christ. That truth should humble us. It might be worthy to note that the knowledge of this truth, that the gifts are accessible to the rebellious should warn us, that the gifts do not guarantee that we will be obedient servants.

The gifts are meant to glorify Christ, not ourselves.

1 Corinthians 7:7 English Standard Version (ESV) I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

Praise God that we have so many men and women of God that have dedicated their lives in studying every aspect of their gifts to bring us insights in areas that we are not gifted in ourselves.

I am not a linguist. I have a hard enough time with just English. When it comes to finding meaning in the Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, I’d miss out on a lot of good information if it were not for the love that others have for their own gifts.

We live in the information age where so much information is available to us at the touch of our finger, literally. My index finger clicks the mouse on links to those sources every day. Information is readily available, maybe too available if you think about it.

There is so much information out there that we must caution ourselves to be sure our resources are sound in the Word if that is what we are to study. I rely on just a few trusted sources but in doing so, I come back to the only source that is worthy of my trust, the Holy Spirit.

Seeking information for information’s sake will fill our brains but is that what is needed to further this relationship we have with our God? If our goal is just information, then we will please ourselves to the point we ignore what is needful for the feeding of our soul.

I spent years studying alone the works of a very prolific theologian because his approach to the Word of God fit my personality. It fed my problem, it did not fix it. It took a long time to come to an understanding that his faults were my faults and I was ignoring my own problems by feeding on information only.

John 6:35 English Standard Version (ESV) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.