1 Corinthians 14:18-19

Thankful for the gift!

We attend a Church where speaking in tongues is not normally expressed. Is this a major or a minor issue for me?  I am not really sure. Paul also thought that women should not be allowed to speak in a Church service. We know now that it is a tradition upheld by men not a doctrine of Jesus Christ. In my humble opinion all gifts of the Spirit should be lifted up in the Body of Christ. Time will prove their benefit or what we lost by not using them.

   Love is what it’s all about. “Pursue love, and strive for spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God,   because no one understands, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Cor 14:1–2). By tongues, Paul is likely referencing the “tongues of angels”—some angelic language (1 Cor 13:1)—although elsewhere the term is used in reference to people speaking in a language they don’t actually know for the sake of ministering to others in their native tongue (Acts 2:3–4).

Love—as manifested in Christ’s death and resurrection and in our living sacrificially for Him and others—is central, and spiritual gifts should support that cause.

Paul goes on to say: “Now I want you all to speak with tongues, but even more that you may prophesy.… But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking with tongues, how do I benefit you, unless I speak to you either with a revelation or with knowledge or with a prophecy or with a teaching?” (1 Cor 14:5–6).

Spiritual gifts are meant to indwell believers. Christians are meant to be driven by God’s Spirit and to do miraculous things in His name. But none of it matters if it’s not for the purpose of showing Christ’s love.

What gifts do you resist using? How can you use the spiritual gifts God has given you to show love to others, and how can you correct your use of them if you’re not currently using them for this purpose?

 Barry, J. D., & Kruyswijk, R. (2012). 

Paul wanted the Corinthians to serve and benefit each other above all. But instead they had developed the skill of attacking and neglecting each other. If each person brings to the meeting the special ability that God has given him or her, and if everything is done for edification, the church as a whole will benefit. NKJ Bible.

1 Corinthians 14:18–19 (NKJV)

¹⁸ I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; ¹⁹ yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.