We have come to think of gifts as something that we do not ask for, that is why its a gift right? We do not usually know what gift we will receive until we open the wrap. But we CAN desire gifts that God the Father will give us, the spiritual kind
To desire in earnest means to be really serious about it. To actually put some muscle in your efforts to gain something. Notice what the Apostle Paul suggests what we should earnestly desire: “the most helpful gifts.” Why should the Apostle say that? I think its because there are spiritual gifts that attract too much attention such as prophesying or speaking in tongues. In as much as the body of Christ needs these gifts there are “more” helpful gifts such as the gift of healing, miracles or faith. it also boils down to one thing, everyone has a spiritual gift–and its different from your brother or sister in the faith.
So you should desire the most helpful gifts, the one that God meant for you. We should not desire a gift born out of envy because a brother commands so much attention with what he has. No, it should not be! We desire gifts because it will be useful not for ourselves but to minister to others.
We can probably use this passage found in James 4:2-3, “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”
The bottom line is that spiritual gifts are meant to be used to serve and encourage one another. So if we want to serve others, let us ask God for the most helpful gifts.
Image courtesy of [stockimages] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
