Gifts of the Holy Spirit

12 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

2You know that at one time you were unbelievers. You were somehow drawn away to worship statues of gods that couldn’t even speak. 3So I tell you that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “May Jesus be cursed.” And without the help of the Holy Spirit no one can say, “Jesus is Lord.”

4There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given by the same Spirit. 5There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. 6There are different ways to work. But the same God makes it possible for all of us to have all those different things.

7The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. 8To some people the Spirit gives the message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives the message of knowledge. 9To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. 10To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages.

11All of the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives them to each person, just as he decides.

One Body but Many Parts

12There is one body. But it has many parts. Even though it has many parts, they make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Greeks, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink.

14The body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. 15Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” It is still part of the body. 16And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” It is still part of the body.

17If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.

21The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. 23The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. 24The parts that can be shown don’t need special care.

But God has joined together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. 25In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.

27You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. 28First, God has appointed apostles in the church. Second, he has appointed prophets. Third, he has appointed teachers. Then he has appointed people who do miracles and those who have gifts of healing. He also appointed those able to help others, those able to direct things, and those who can speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before.

29Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages they had not known before? Do all explain what is said in those languages? 31But above all, you should want the more important gifts.

Love

And now I will show you the best way of all.