12What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable.G1161G4012G4152G80G2309G3756G2309G5209G50 2Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can.G1492G3754G2258G1484G520G4314G880G1497G5613G302G71 3For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say "Jesus be damned!" Nor would anyone be inclined to say "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of the Holy Spirit.G1352G1107G5213G1107G3754G3762G2980G1722G4151G2316G3004G2424G331G2532G3762G1410G2036G2424G2962G1508G1722G40G4151 4God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit.G1161G1526G1243G5486G1161G846G4151 5God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit.G2532G1526G1243G1248G2532G846G2962 6God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all.G2532G1526G1243G1755G1161G2076G846G2316G3588G1754G3956G1722G3956 7Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!G1161G5321G4151G1325G1538G4314G4851 8The variety is wonderful: wise counsel clear understandingG1063G3739G3303G1325G1223G4151G3056G4678G1161G243G3056G1108G2596G846G4151 9simple trust healing the sickG1161G2087G4102G1722G846G4151G1161G243G5486G2386G1722G846G4151 10miraculous acts proclamation distinguishing between spirits tongues interpretation of tongues.G1161G243G1755G1411G1161G243G4394G1161G243G1253G4151G1161G2087G1085G1100G1161G243G2058G1100 11All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.G1161G3956G5023G1754G1520G2532G846G4151G1244G1538G2398G2531G1014 12You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ.G1063G2509G4983G2076G1520G2532G2192G4183G3196G1161G3956G3196G1520G4983G5607G4183G2076G1520G4983G3779G2532G5547 13By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.G1063G2532G1722G1520G4151G907G2249G3956G907G1519G1520G4983G1535G2453G1535G1672G1535G1401G1535G1658G2532G4222G3956G4222G1519G1520G4151 14I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.G2532G1063G4983G2076G3756G1520G3196G235G4183 15If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so?G1437G4228G2036G3754G1510G3756G5495G1510G3756G1537G4983G2076G3756G3844G5124G3756G1537G4983 16If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body?G2532G1437G3775G2036G3754G1510G3756G3788G1510G3756G1537G4983G2076G3756G3844G5124G3756G1537G4983 17If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell?G1487G3650G4983G3788G4226G189G1487G3650G189G4226G3750 18As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.G1161G3570G5087G2316G5087G3196G1538G1520G846G1722G4983G2531G2309 19But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster.G1161G1487G2258G3956G1520G3196G4226G4983 20What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own.G1161G3568G3303G4183G3196G1161G1520G4983 21Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"?G1161G3788G3756G1410G2036G5495G2192G3756G5532G4675G2228G3825G2776G4228G2192G3756G5532G5216 22As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach.G235G4183G3123G3196G4983G1380G5225G772G2076G316 23When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons.G2532G3739G4983G1380G1511G820G5125G4060G4055G5092G2532G2257G809G2192G4055G2157 24If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?G1161G2257G2158G2192G3756G5532G235G2316G4786G4983G4786G1325G4055G5092G5302 25The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't,G3363G5600G3363G4978G1722G4983G235G3196G3309G846G3309G5228G240 26the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.G2532G1535G1520G3196G3958G3956G3196G4841G1535G1520G3196G1392G3956G3196G4796 27You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything.G1161G5210G2075G4983G5547G2532G3196G1537G3313 28You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body": apostles prophets teachers miracle workers healers helpers organizers those who pray in tongues.G2532G3739G2316G5087G3303G1722G1577G4412G652G1208G4396G5154G1320G1899G1411G1534G5486G2386G484G2941G1085G1100 29But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker,G3361G3956G652G3361G3956G4396G3361G3956G1320G3361G3956G1411 30not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues.G3361G2192G3956G5486G2386G3956G3361G2980G1100G3361G3956G1329 31And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.G1161G2206G2909G5486G2532G2089G1166G5213G2596G5236G3598
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