Listen

Therefore, those who speak in a tongue should pray to be able to interpret. If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind isn’t productive. What should I do? I’ll pray in the Spirit, but I’ll pray with my mind too; I’ll sing a psalm in the Spirit, but I’ll sing the psalm with my mind too. After all, if you praise God in the Spirit, how will the people who aren’t trained in that language say “Amen!” to your thanksgiving, when they don’t know what you are saying? You may offer a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I’d rather speak five words in my right mind than speak thousands of words in a tongue so that I can teach others.

1 Corinthians 14:13-19

Think

1 Corinthians is a letter Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Some people there had been given the God-given gift of speaking and praying in other languages, just as Paul sometimes did. Paul reminds them that gifts and abilities like this are great, but they are given by God so that we can help others and build them up.

Whatever the gifts God has given us, they are given not just for our sake, but for the sake of others. We’re blessed to be a blessing, gifted to share gifts. Some gifts get a lot of attention; others are more behind-the-scenes. Some are more spectacular; many are very ordinary. And yet all of our gifts are equally important, all needed to make this world more like what God intended it be.

And God has gifted us all, including you! What gifts, abilities, and passions do you have? How might God be calling you to use them to build up and help others?

Chris Cash

Pray

Giving God, give me eyes to see all the gifts and abilities you have given me. Give me creativity to see all the ways they might be used to help others. Give me humility to use them in service and love. Amen.

Go

May you go to live a life of wisdom, prayer, and service to others.