Faith & Love: A One Year Bible Reading Plan - Part 9Sample

1 Corinthians 14 concludes Paul's teaching on the Spiritual Gifts begun in chapter 12.

In Verse 1, Paul encourages us to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, especially that we may prophesy. When we jump to verse 3, he gives us why prophecy is such an admirable gift: we should have it above all because we get to edify, encourage, and comfort all men. In verse 12, Paul instructs us that our desire for gifts must be for edification of the church.

Three things we take from this chapter:

1. Love is the primary motivator for all gifts we may desire; it is the power behind the transformation of people.
2. All gifts must have edification as a primary and end goal; it’s about building the church, not displaying how great our gifts are. We are gifted for a purpose, not for a performance.
3. The order of every gathering must be in order and decency to the glory of God and for the good of all.

As we close, let us ask ourselves the following questions:

Are we pursuing the gifts for reasons to be seen or to make a great impact in people’s lives? How can we ensure God gets the glory every time we share gifts He has given us? In what ways can we edify, encourage, and comfort today?

May our lives be a testimony of God’s life-changing power through our gifts.