EXPAND TO READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 12 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 6-7): I must admit, I’m really not sure what my spiritual gifts from You are, Father. Is it my knack for easily picking up IT-related topics and moving forward with those? Is it my caring heart that I often shut down? Is it my odd ability to interpret and reword Your Word in a way that makes sense to me and seems to be helpful to others? Is it all of these combined? Is it none of these? I feel that I do not truly know my spiritual gifts from You likely because of both my immaturity in my faith but also due to a lack of trust in my interpretation of Your truths at times. Please forgive me for this immaturity and distrust, Father. Help me to be better at righteous discernment of the spiritual gifts You have blessed me with, Father, so that I may bless the whole body of Christ with those gifts.
PROMISE (verse 31): Quite simply, You tell us in this one verse that if we desire the greater gifts from You that You will show us an even better way of living this life. I’ve struggled with accepting this due to my own doubt, worry, and self-esteem issues. I know that if I lean on You through all things and gain wisdom through You via Your word and the godly men You have placed in my life that I will be able to accept Your promises fully. Unfortunately, I do struggle with this as I let my flesh control me far too often. Help me to be better at accepting Your promises in my life, Father, so that I can allow You to show me Your better ways.
ATTITUDE (verses 25-26): I’m not going to lie or even try to hide this, but I do struggle with these verses. I struggle with helping my fellow believers in their struggles and in their praise at times. I think my struggle with this at its core is because I myself struggle with sharing my struggles and praise with others in a righteous manner. Give me an attitude of humility and of empathy, Father, so that I may be able to both live with my fellow believers in rejoicing as well as in sorrow when needed. Help me to be better at living in a way that I am a true part of the whole body of Christ. Although I have gotten much better at living this way thanks to the Real Men 300, I do still suffer with this in my day-to-day walk of life at times.
COMMAND (verse 31): Although I used this verse as the promise scripture, I also feel it’s a command, at least in the first part of it. Your command is for us to truly desire the greater gifts from You so that through those gifts You can show us an even better way. Help me to embrace this command, Father, so that deeply in my heart and soul I truly embrace the desire and drive for Your gifts in a way that I yearn for them daily. Help me to be better at both recognizing as well as embracing these gifts You have for me so that I can see the “better way” You intend for my life, Father.
EXAMPLE (verses 14-18): The example You’ve given here of how the body of Christ is supposed to be in this life and this world is such a great mental picture. Just as our physical bodies have multiple parts serving different functions (eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc.), You’ve given the body of Christ many parts that all serve different functions for the whole body. Thank You for this example, Father. Help me to understand and embrace the part of the whole that I am in this life, so that I do not try and be an ear when You want me to be a hand. I cannot hold things with my ears, but I can hold onto things with my hand and if that’s the part that You expect of me, then I need to ensure I am fulfilling that portion of the body that I’m supposed to be fulfilling.
*DAILY NOTE: So many verses in this scripture to give a true mental picture of how the body of Christ is supposed to work in this world. I have witness so many failures in “religion” since coming to faith oftentimes due to people filling in the body of Christ in the wrong way; I’m even guilty of this. Oftentimes we see others doing something for the church, so we automatically assume that’s what You want of us. Sometimes even the church pressures us to do things based on a pre-determined template, which is not what You’ve called us to do as parts of the whole body of Christ. Help me to be better at discerning what my portion of the whole body of Christ is in this life, Father, so that I may be able to properly and adequately glorify You in the way that You expect of me and have gifted me to do.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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