Few subjects generate more confusion, and more unnecessary division, than the gifts of the Spirit. Paul opens his teaching on them by saying, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant" (1 Corinthians 12:1). Clarity here is not optional extra credit. It is pastoral care.

Given for the common good

The first thing Paul establishes is purpose. "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal" (1 Corinthians 12:7). The gifts are not spiritual decorations, and they are not a ranking system. They are given to build up other people.

That single sentence settles most of the arguments. Any use of a gift that leaves the church less edified than it found it has missed the point of the gift.

The gifts Paul names

In verses 8 to 10 Paul lists nine manifestations. He is not writing an exhaustive catalogue, but the list is a good place to start:

1. The word of wisdomGod-given insight into how to act in a situation the natural mind cannot resolve.
2. The word of knowledgeKnowing something God has revealed which you had no natural way of knowing.
3. FaithNot saving faith, which every believer has, but a surge of confidence for a particular moment.
4. Gifts of healingGod restoring the body through the ministry of the church.
5. The working of miraclesActs of divine power that interrupt the ordinary course of things.
6. ProphecySpeaking a word from God that builds up, encourages and comforts (1 Corinthians 14:3).
7. Discerning of spiritsThe ability to tell what is truly of God and what is not.
8. Divers kinds of tonguesPrayer and speech in a language the speaker has not learned.
9. Interpretation of tonguesRendering that utterance so the gathered church can be built up by it.

One body, many members

Paul then turns to a picture: the body. The foot cannot resign because it is not a hand, and the eye cannot dismiss the hand as unnecessary (1 Corinthians 12:15-21). He is addressing two opposite temptations, and both are still with us.

Some believers withdraw because their gift seems unimpressive. Others dismiss believers whose gifts are quieter than their own. Both misread the design. A body that is all one part is not a strong body. It is a deformity.

How to grow in your gift

Peter gives the practical instruction: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another" (1 Peter 4:10). Gifts develop in use, under oversight, among people who know you. They rarely develop in theory.

And Paul's ordering stands. Immediately after this chapter comes the passage on love, and the point is unmissable. Gifts without love are noise. Pursue both, and pursue love hardest.

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