Jesus Christ is the full expression of all the spiritual gifts because He alone is the God-man who lived a perfect life. After ascending to the Father, He entrusted the church with the task of carrying out His work on earth. To accomplish this, He gave a variety of spiritual gifts to His followers who are now His body. Christ is the head, and He’s the one who fits us together to form a well-functioning body that grows and builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4:15-16). When all of us are operating according to our gifting, together we become what we long to be—a New Testament church.
It’s not enough to discover, develop, and exercise our own gifts; we must also value other people’s (1 Corinthians 12:18-21). No one sees the entire picture or has all the answers. We need each other to point out our blind spots, teach us humility, and handle matters we cannot tackle alone. God uses our differences to shape us into Christ’s image so we can display the fruit of the Spirit. We each have a job to do in the church. Therefore, let’s be good stewards of our gifts in the power and love of the Spirit so that one day we will hear our Lord’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
(CHARLES F. STANLEY)