Many people think of the Corinthian church as the most spiritually vibrant of all the churches that Paul wrote to because there is so much discussion in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about ‘spiritual gifts’ and little mention of them in his other letters. But the only reason that Paul had to bring up this matter with the Corinthians was because it had become a problem for them. It is evident that the other churches had experienced the same level of empowerment by the Spirit (see Ephesians 4:7-13) but they had not misused their gifts as the Corinthians had. Given the kinds of problems that Paul deals with in this church it certainly rates, along with the Galatian church, as the most dysfunctional of all those that Paul writes to. When God gives us gifts it is our responsibility to steward them in accordance with his will. God does not revoke his gifts when we misuse them, as Paul says in Romans 11:29: “For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” It is possible to be a bad steward of God’s gifts and even to misuse them. In order to rightly steward what God gives us we must have good character. Gifting without character will do more harm than good. Learn to focus more on what kind of person you are than what abilities you have.
Prayerfully consider where your focus is.
Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
