1 Corinthians Week 28

Day 1 

RECEIVE 

1 Corinthians 12:14-17 

¹⁴ Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 

Apparently some of the Corinthian believers thought their particular gift was what everyone should have. Paul tells them all the different gifts are necessary for the body of Christ to properly function. His parallel to the human body was to help them see how all the parts of it are necessary. They needed to receive what Paul was saying about this. 

REFLECT 

Have you been helped to see that God needs all the spiritual gifts working through His people for His Church to be functioning properly? 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Hebrews 10:25. Notice that “assembling” is more than just being there. Parts of a machine can be in the same building but not assembled. There needs to be a functioning together. 

Day 2 

RECEIVE 

1 Corinthians 12:18-21 

¹⁸ But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. ¹⁹ How strange a body would be if it had only one part! ²⁰ Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. ²¹ The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 

Paul draws on the analogy of the human body to show that all parts are needed. So also it is with spiritual gifts in the Church. The Corinthians were likely magnifying one gift and minimizing others. Paul was showing them that all parts are needed. 

REFLECT 

Do you recognize how the spiritual gifts of others are needed along with your gift? 

RESPOND 

Read 2 Corinthians 13:11 to see how Paul closed his second letter to them. He tells believers how to live with each other. 

Day 3 

RECEIVE 

1 Corinthians 12:22-24 

²² In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. ²³ And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, ²⁴ while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 

Paul stressed that those members of the body that are not thought much about are important. Think of meetings in the church where some members are in the limelight but others are working behind the scenes to make everything work well. Summer camps need a good speaker, but much work is needed in the kitchen and by the ground crews to make the camp successful.  

REFLECT 

Are you one that works behind the scenes or in the limelight?  

RESPOND 

No matter what you do, it can be done to the glory of God. Colossians 3:23 is a verse that should guide your life. See John 11:4 to see that even sickness can be to the glory of God. See John 21:19 for the comment of Jesus that Peter would glorify God through his death.  

Day 4 

RECEIVE 

1 Corinthians 12:25-26 

²⁵ This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 

Think what this is like. If you injure a finger your whole hand likely feels like it hurts. The same with injuring a toe and it feeling like your entire foot is hurting. So also with believers in the body of Christ. If one believer is suffering; other believers are affected. If one is honored then all believers should feel they have been honored.  

REFLECT 

When a fellow believer has a heart ache, do you also grieve? When someone is honored do you rejoice or are you jealous? 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Romans 12:15. This is the kind of empathy believers should have for each other. 

Day 5 

RECEIVE 

1 Corinthians 12:27-28 

²⁷ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. ²⁸ Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages. 

Paul listed various gifts and gifted people that are in Christ’s body, the Church. 1 Corinthians 12-14 deals with spiritual gifts and especially that of speaking in tongues. As Paul listed the gifts in  12:28 that gift was the last on his list. Not all in the list are needed today, such as apostles and prophets, as they were in Bible times before the Bible was completed. Notice that even those who can help others are listed as a gift.  

REFLECT 

Notice that some of these gifts put a person in the limelight, but others such as helps are behind the scenes. Each is important, however.  

RESPOND 

Visit with a friend about this list of gifts. Talk about how you might fit into this list, and how you see others fitting into it. This list does not seem to be entirely complete as we considered other passages previously referred to in Romans 12; Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4.