1 Corinthians 12
12
God’s spirit gives Christians special power
1My Christian friends, you know that the Holy Spirit gives special power to Christians. I want to tell you more about that, so that you will understand it properly. 2Remember this. Before you knew God, you listened to other people that didn’t know God, and you did what they did. You used to respect those statues that you thought were gods, but you know, they are just dumb statues, they can’t say anything. 3Now listen, I want you to understand this. If God’s spirit is inside somebody, they can never say, “Jesus, get away from me.” And the only people that can really say, “Jesus is my leader,” are the people that have God’s spirit inside them.
4You know, the Holy Spirit gives us special powers to do things. We call those powers the gifts that he gives us. There are different sorts of gifts, but they all come from the same Holy Spirit.#Romans 12:6-8 5We work for God in a lot of different ways, but all of us work for Jesus. 6Different people can do different things, but it is the same God that gives each person the power to work for him.
7It’s like this. The Holy Spirit works in each one of us. He gives us these gifts so we can help each other. 8The Holy Spirit gives one person the power to say a wise message for somebody, and he gives another person the power to know something special. 9The same Holy Spirit gives another person the power to believe God strongly for something. And he gives another person the power to make sick people better. 10The same Holy Spirit gives another person the power to do great things. And he gives another person the power to tell messages straight from God. The same Holy Spirit gives another person the power to know if something comes from God’s spirit, or if it comes from bad spirits. He gives another person the power to talk in special languages, and he gives another person the power to say what those special language words mean. 11It is the same Holy Spirit that does all those things. He gives gifts to each person, just the way he wants to.
One body has a lot of parts
12You know, a body has a lot of parts. All those different parts make only one body. And it is like that with Jesus Christ too. We Christians are like his body.#Romans 12:4-5 13Some of us are Jews, and the rest of us are not Jews. Some of us are free, and some of us are like prisoners that have to work for no pay. But no matter what we are, God put his spirit into all of us, that is, he baptised us in his spirit. He did that to join us together into one body. Now we all have that same Holy Spirit in us.
14And you know that a body doesn’t have just one part. It has a lot of different parts. 15Suppose a foot thinks to itself, “I’m not a hand, so I don’t belong to this body.” That doesn’t change anything, it is still a part of the body. 16Or suppose an ear thinks to itself, “I’m not an eye, so I don’t belong to this body.” But no matter what it thinks, it is still a part of the body. 17Suppose the whole body was an eye, it wouldn’t hear anything. Or suppose the whole body was an ear, it wouldn’t smell anything. 18-19Suppose each part of the body was the same, it wouldn’t really be a body. But, you see, God put all the different parts in the body just like he wanted them. In the same way, God put different Christians together to become the church. 20Yes, a body has a lot of parts, but they make only one body. 21And a body needs every part. Its eye can’t reckon, “I don’t need that hand.” And its head can’t reckon, “I don’t need those feet.” 22A body needs every part, even the parts that we think are weak. In the same way, the church needs every sort of Christian.
23There are some parts of our bodies that we think are not very nice, and we don’t want anyone to see them, so we carefully look after those parts and cover them up. 24But we don’t need to cover the beautiful parts of our bodies. God has joined all those parts together to make one body. We might think some parts are not important, but God has made them really important. 25So all the parts of our bodies live quietly together and help each other. 26If one part of a body hurts, every other part hurts with it. Or if one part of a body is feeling good, every other part is happy with it.
27You see, you are all like Jesus Christ’s body. Each of you Christians is a part of his body. 28And God gives people different jobs in his church, and he gives them the power to do those jobs.
– 1st, there are Jesus’s special workers, that God sends to other places to tell people his good news.
– 2nd, there are those other people that God uses to tell his messages.
– 3rd, there are those people that can teach other people.
– After that, there are those people that have the power to do great things.
– Then there are those people that have the power to make sick people better.
– And there are those people that can help other people.
– And there are those people that can lead other people.
– And there are those people that can talk in special languages.#Ephesians 4:11
29Did God send all of you out to other places to be Jesus’s special workers? No, he didn’t. Did he give all of you the power to tell his messages? No. Did he give all of you the power to be teachers? No. Did he give all of you the power to do great things? No, he didn’t. 30And he didn’t give all of you the power to make sick people better. He didn’t give all of you the power to talk in special languages, and he didn’t give all of you the power to say what those special language words mean. 31You see, God gives different powers to different people. So you have to really want the best powers from God.
It is very important to love God and other people
But there is another really good way, so now I will tell you about that way. It is the best way.
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© 2021, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. All rights reserved.
1 Corinthians 12
12
Spiritual Gifts
1Now concerning spiritual gifts,#12.1 Or spiritual persons brothers and sisters,#12.1 Gk brothers I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
One Body with Many Members
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.