“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” 1 Corinthians 12:7

There is a beautiful thing in the body of Christ called diversity. And yes, when we hear that word typically our minds are drawn to the notion of race, ethnicity, background, and the like. Believe me, those things DO make the body of Christ uniquely beautiful, and we will see the full culmination of that when we get to heaven.

But to help usher people toward that goal of reaching those heavenly doors, and to teach, assist, and encourage the saints along the way, variety in the form of spiritual gifts are very vital.

Working together in unison with His Spirit and one another for Kingdom purposes means that one does not have to shoulder the weight of every gift upon oneself. Rather, as doctors are in areas of specific studies, there are special areas endowed with special abilities from high. The beauty is, as a community of believers we have all the gifts of His Spirit in operation to benefit the body as a whole, lacking nothing, regardless of who is the one carrying the gift.

Spiritual gifts are never to be the source of contention and division. Every gift, regardless of the name or manifestation you attach to it, comes from the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).

It’s not about who gets to do what, or who is recognized for this and that, or whose gift seems to be “greatest.” It is all about what are we doing with what God gave us? How are we pooling our resources to help people and to help further increase His Kingdom?

First Peter 4:10, 11 instructs us, saying, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

This means all gifts given are with the purpose that we “minister” or serve one another with the end result “that God in all things may be glorified.”

This is a concept Paul had to explain to the Corinthian church, who allowed divisiveness to enter over the topic of spiritual giftings. Paul explained to the church the different varieties of gifts, the value of all gifts given, and their intended purpose, which was for the benefit of all (read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11).

In 1 Corinthians 12:7, he wrote, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal”, reiterating the way the Spirit manifests or reveals His working through individuals by their gifting is to “profit withal.” The advancement of God’s business, and the church as a whole, should benefit from what He has blessed inside each of us.

We are a part of His plan to make a difference in the lives of others. Each of us has something special within us that is never meant to be buried, hidden, or kept for ourselves. One should not want to go through life without the world benefiting from that spiritual treasure inside you. Take the bold approach and unearth it. Put it out there for all to partake in.

And whatever you do, don’t use it as some sort of measuring rod to compare with others. We have different gifts for a reason. Where I am strong, I can do my part to help minister to those around me.

Where I am weak, I cannot not only lean upon another, but I can help send others who have needs to be fulfilled in that direction to get the specific help they need.

Doing this makes us good stewards of the gifts. This is beautiful, because hand in hand, and heart with heart, like Nehemiah and the people building the wall, we are all working in unison together on our individual part to build up and finish the work (Nehemiah 3-4).

You, my friend, are gifted, and your gift is needed in this work. Let us not fight or become discouraged over the gifts but let us build together using them.

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