Spiritual Gifts — TDW Kids

A question from Corinth. The believers in Corinth had asked Paul about spiritual gifts. He wrote, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant” (12:1). Here ignorant means not knowing. From idols to Jesus. They used to follow “dumb idols” (12:2), statues that could not speak. Now the Holy Spirit had led them to say, “Jesus is Lord” (12:3). Anyone who truly calls Jesus Lord has the Spirit's help. Different gifts, one Giver. “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” (12:4). Diversities means many different kinds. Father, Son and Spirit. Paul names the same Spirit, the same Lord and the same God working together (12:4-6). The one true God gives the gifts. For everyone's good. The gifts are “given to each one for the profit of all” (12:7). Profit means help or good. A gift is never just for showing off. Many kinds. Paul lists wisdom, knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation (12:8-10). Discerning spirits means telling what comes from God and what does not. He chooses. The Spirit gives “to each one individually as He wills” (12:11). The Bible calls the Spirit He, because He is a Person and not a force. What this means for you. If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in you, and He wants to use you to help others.

Spiritual things (12:1). Paul is answering questions the Corinthians had sent him in a letter (7:1). Before they believed, they had been carried along by idol worship (12:2). Now they needed to understand how the Holy Spirit works. The first test (12:3). The Holy Spirit always leads people to honor Jesus as Lord. Jesus said the Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Any message that makes Jesus small does not come from the Spirit. Grace gifts (12:4). The word for gifts is charismata (say: kah-RIZ-mah-tah). It comes from charis (say: KAH-rees), which means grace. A spiritual gift is grace in action, given freely and never earned. One God at work (12:4-6). Spirit, Lord and God appear side by side. Gifts, ministries and activities all come from the one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A showing (12:7). A manifestation is a showing. Each gift shows the Spirit at work, “for the profit of all.” A gift points away from the person and toward the good of the church. Word gifts and power gifts (12:8-10). Some gifts work through speaking: a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, prophecy and tongues. Others show God's power: faith, healings and miracles. Discerning of spirits helps the church test what is from God (1 John 4:1). As He wills (12:11). The Spirit works, distributes and decides. Those are things only a person does. The Holy Spirit is God, and He knows which gift fits each believer. For today. The Holy Spirit still gives these gifts to the church. Paul's concern is that they honor Jesus and help others.

The people in Corinth used to worship idols. Idols are statues that cannot talk or help. Now the people belonged to Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit helps a person say, “Jesus is Lord.” The Holy Spirit is not a thing. He is a Person, and He is God. He gives every believer a gift. A gift is something you do not earn. The Spirit chooses the gift for each person. So nobody should brag about a gift. Nobody should feel left out either. The Spirit, the Lord Jesus and God the Father work together. They give gifts so we can help each other.

The Holy Spirit gives gifts to God's people. He helps us say, “Jesus is Lord.” Every gift comes from Him.

One body. “For as the body is one and has many members… so also is Christ” (12:12). Members means parts. The church is the body of Christ on earth. Everyone belongs. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free” (12:13). The Holy Spirit places every believer into Christ's body, no matter where they come from. The foot and the ear. The foot might feel left out because it is not a hand (12:15). But it is still part of the body. Never think that you do not count. All eye? “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?” (12:17). A body made of only one part would not work. God's design. “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased” (12:18). Your place in the church is God's idea. No bragging. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’” (12:21). Nobody is too important to need others. Weak parts matter. The parts that “seem to be weaker are necessary” (12:22). God gives special honor to the parts that seem small. Together. “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (12:26). “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (12:27). What this means for you. Look for the person who feels left out, and help them know they belong.

Body language (12:12). The Greek soma (say: SOH-mah) means body. Paul uses the picture to show that every part, especially the weakest, is needed. So also is Christ (12:12). Believers are so joined to Jesus that the church is His body: “He is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). Baptized by one Spirit (12:13). Every believer is placed into Christ's body by the Holy Spirit and is given the Spirit to drink. In Corinth, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free people did not usually sit at the same table. In the church they did. Two wrong thoughts. The foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body” (12:15). The eye says, “I have no need of you” (12:21). One thought feels less than others; the other is pride. Both deny God's design. God composed the body (12:24). God gave “greater honor to that part which lacks it” so “that there should be no schism in the body” (12:24-25). A schism is a split. Corinth had splits over favorite leaders (1:10-12), and this picture answers them. Suffer and rejoice together (12:26). Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Love feels what others feel. The weaker parts (12:22-23). The parts that “seem to be weaker are necessary” (12:22), and on the less honored parts “we bestow greater honor” (12:23). In the church, the quiet, the young and the struggling are not extras. God says the body cannot do without them. For today. Ask God where He has placed you in His body and how you can serve there this week.

Paul used a picture everyone could understand. A body has many parts, but it is one body. The church is like that. Every person who trusts Jesus is part of His body. Some people feel like they do not matter. Paul said that is not true. God put you in the body on purpose. Other people feel like they do not need anyone. That is not true either. We all need each other. When someone is sad, we can be sad with them. If someone is happy, we can be happy too. That is how God's family works.

The church is like one body. God made every part, and every part is needed. You are needed in God's family!

Different roles. God placed “first apostles, second prophets, third teachers” in the church (12:28). Apostles were sent out by Jesus to start churches and teach. Not all the same. “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?” (12:29). The answer is no. God gives different people different gifts. Want the best gifts. “But earnestly desire the best gifts” (12:31). It is good to ask God for gifts that help others. A better way. “And yet I show you a more excellent way” (12:31). Paul's next words, in 1 Corinthians 13, show that way: love. Pursue love. “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” (14:1). Pursue means chase after. What prophecy does. The one who prophesies helps people. “He gives people strength, encouragement, and comfort” (14:3, ICB). It helps the whole church. Tongues. Speaking in a tongue means speaking by the Spirit in a language the person never learned. In church it needs an interpreter so everyone can understand (14:5, 13). Aim to help. “Try most to have the gifts that help the church grow stronger” (14:12, ICB). What this means for you. Ask God to use you, and choose love first.

First, second, third (12:28). The gifts that lay the foundation and teach God's Word are named first. The church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). Expecting no (12:29-30). In Greek each question is worded to expect the answer no. God never meant every believer to have the same gift. Earnestly desire (12:31; 14:1). Paul tells the church to want gifts eagerly. Asking God for gifts is right, as long as love is the goal. A more excellent way. Love is not one more gift on the list. It is the way every gift must be used: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (13:1). Building up (14:3-5). The Greek oikodome (say: oy-koh-doh-MAY) means building a house. Paul uses it for helping people grow strong in faith. Prophecy builds up the church because everyone can understand it. Prophecy. Here prophecy is speaking a message from God that strengthens, encourages and comforts (14:3). It never adds to Scripture, and it is tested by Scripture (14:29). Tongues and interpretation. A tongue is speech given by the Spirit in a language the speaker has not learned. At Pentecost the hearers recognized their own languages (Acts 2:6). In church a tongue must be interpreted so that others are helped (14:5, 13). Eager for the right goal (14:12). The Corinthians were zealous for gifts. Paul tells them to aim at the gifts that build up the church. For today. Ask God for the gifts that help others most, and let love lead the way you use them.

Paul told the church to really want the greater gifts. Then he said there is an even better way. That way is love. Paul's next words in his letter are all about love. Gifts without love do not please God. Paul said prophecy is a very helpful gift. To prophesy is to share a message from God. It gives people strength, encouragement and comfort. Speaking in a different language is a real gift too. But in church, someone must explain what the words mean. Then everyone can be helped. God gives gifts so the whole church grows strong.

Paul said love is the best way of all. God's gifts help people grow strong. We use every gift with love!

Everyone brings something. “Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation” (14:26). A psalm is a song of praise. The goal. Every part of the meeting should help the church grow strong (14:26). Take turns. Tongues were to be spoken by “two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret” (14:27). With no interpreter the speaker stays quiet and speaks “to himself and to God” (14:28). Check it. “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (14:29). Judge here means test what is said by God's Word. Self-control. “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (14:32). The Holy Spirit never makes a person lose control. A God of peace. “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (14:33). A church meeting should show what God is like. Do not stop the gifts. “Desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues” (14:39). In order. Paul ends with the memory verse: everything should be done in a fitting way and in order (14:40). What this means for you. Be ready to serve, wait your turn, and do it all with love.

Every member involved (14:26). The early church met in homes, and many believers took part. A psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue and an interpretation could all have a place. One rule over all. Each part of the meeting must build others up (14:26). The question is never how to look spiritual, but how to help brothers and sisters in Christ. Limits and turns (14:27-31). Two or three speakers, one at a time, with interpretation for tongues and testing for prophecy. Then “all may learn and all may be encouraged” (14:31). Self-control (14:32). Some worship in Corinth's temples was wild and out of control. God's Spirit works through a believer's mind and will, and the fruit of the Spirit includes “self-control” (Galatians 5:23). The character of God (14:33). God is “not the author of confusion but of peace.” Confusion means disorder, like a crowd where everyone shouts at once. How a church worships shows what it believes about God. Both commands (14:39-40). Paul says to desire prophecy and not to forbid tongues. In the same closing lines he says to keep order. The church needs both: room for the Spirit's gifts and order that helps everyone. Decently and in order (14:40). Decently means in a fitting, beautiful way. In order means each thing in its place, like soldiers in their ranks. For today. When you serve, sing, pray or share at church, do it to help others and to honor Jesus.

When the church met, many people wanted to share. One had a song to sing. Another had a lesson to teach. Paul said everything should help the church grow strong. People should speak one at a time. Others should listen and check what is said. God is not a God of confusion. He is a God of peace. Paul also said not to stop people from using their gifts. God's gifts are good, and they are for today. We just use them kindly and in order. That way everyone can learn and be encouraged.

At church we take turns and listen. God is a God of peace. Everything we do at church should help others.