Do you want gifts or Jesus?

Do you want gifts or Jesus?

“Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.16 And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” (1Corinthians 12:15-21).

How do you interpret the value of the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Is it by your needs or self-interests? Or, is it by popularity or culture? The Jewish Christians loved prophecy, because of prophets like Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. The Greek Christians admired teaching and preaching, for the Greco-Roman culture was consumed with philosophical teachers and orators in the public square. And, yes, everyone wanted healing and miracle. We all have our own preferences and favorites, perhaps, because of our hardships and circumstances, but the danger is our obsession with receiving certain gifts. Some are so obsessed with their ‘favorite’ gifts such as healing, tongue, prophecy, seeing vision, and miracle that their relationship with Jesus becomes all about receiving God’s power. When your preferences determine the value of the Holy Spirit, it will break you and your relationship with Jesus. Isn’t Jesus the greatest gift of all? Then, shouldn’t he be good enough, seriously?