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Beauty in Diversity, July 1
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you
ignorant.... Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And
there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there
are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all
in all.
1 Corinthians 12:1-6
.
The talents that Christ entrusts to His church represent especially the gifts
and blessings imparted by the Holy Spirit. “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: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame
Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (
1 Corinthians 12:8-11
)....
In all the Lord’s arrangements, there is nothing more beautiful than His
plan of giving to men and women a diversity of gifts. The church is His
garden, adorned with a variety of trees, plants, and flowers. He does not
expect the hyssop to assume the proportions of the cedar, nor the olive to
reach the height of the stately palm. Many have received but a limited religious
and intellectual training, but God has a work for this class to do, if they will
labor in humility, trusting in Him....
Different gifts are imparted to different ones, that the workers may feel
their need of one another. God bestows these gifts, and they are employed
in His service, not to glorify the possessor, not to uplift man, but to uplift
the world’s Redeemer. They are to be used for the good of all mankind, by
representing the truth, not testifying to a falsehood.... In every word and act,
kindness and love will be revealed; and as each worker fills his appointed
place faithfully, the prayer of Christ for the unity of His followers will be
answered, and the world will know that these are His disciples.—
The Signs
of the Times, March 15, 1910
.
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