‘Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences in administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 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; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.’ 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
When I came to this section of scripture this morning a few phrases stood out to me so I thought I’d share.
The repeated phrase of ‘by the same Spirit’ stood out because anytime something is repeated in scripture it deserves a second to observe why it’s there. By the same Spirit meaning these diverse gifts that are given by God will ALWAYS be of the Holy Spirit. As believers we’re indwelled by the Holy Spirit the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, but it’s extra comforting to see that one of the gifts given is discernment of spirits.
Being in a body of believers should bring together a variety of people and spiritual gifts which when combined will edify the whole. So the phrase ‘to profit withal’ is a reminder of the need we all have to be active in our local body of believers. It’s important that we make the sacrifice (because sometimes it is a sacrifice) to regularly be in fellowship with our church members so that we’re able to exercise these gifts in context, with love to one another.
One last thing that was impressed on me this morning was that all of these gifts are equally edifying to the body as a whole when used in their proper place. The gift of prophecy is not above the gift of the gift of healing just as the gift of discerning the spirits is not above the gift of faith. They’re all given by the Holy Spirit as he wills. We’re ALL under the same authority, working together to edify one another. When looking at gifts from this perspective, as a level playing field, it’s easy to see that there’s no room for covetousness only encouragement towards one another to help build up our fellow laborers in the exercise of their gifts.
I hope this short word of encouragement was just that for you this morning, an encouragement.
The Millennial Mom 
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