Spiritual gifts are divided among the body; not all of us have the same gifts, for the sake of uniting or brining together the Body of Christ. You need what I got and I need what you got! When one of us fails to discover and use our gifts, the rest of us suffers lack in the Body, as Paul tells us in his first letter to the church of Corinth:
“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it… Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” 1 Corinthians 12:26, 30 KJV
Spiritual gifts, the ones that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, will allow us to operate at a capacity that we could never reach if we’re trying to function without them! These spiritual gifts will give us the ability to bear fruit in the kingdom that we could never bear otherwise.
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 KJV
If we think we can just go about doing good without the Holy Spirit, we are in for a sad surprise. Jesus told us in John 15:5 that apart from Him, we can do nothing:
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5 KJV
The flip side of that is clear that we can bear much fruit if we will stay plugged into the Holy Spirit and operate out of our identity and use the gifts that He’s given us.
