If I understand it right, God's gifts are not for our benefit so much as for the benefit of those around us.
Whilst reading 1 Corinthians chapter 12, I thought “Does God use our nature/personality when giving us particular gifts?” We all have gifts from God – things we can use to do his work, and I think he uses each of us to the best of our individual abilities.
When reading through the chapter you see that we do not all have the same gifts. Although eventually we may be able to have them all, at the moment, we all have different ones. I believe this is because we have different strengths and weaknesses which lend themselves better to some things than others. But Paul says that while we are all different members, we are one body. Meaning we all have our part to play in the whole of God’s congregation, and in our individual churches. One gift does not supercede another. When we work together, they all compliment each other, and in the big picture, we support each other through them.
I have heard it said that if someone does not speak in tongues, they are not true Christians, but this is not what I read in this scripture. Paul is telling the church at Corinth that we may not get the ones we want, but it’s not all about us! It’s about God’s plan and God’s will, so we should not envy those with other gifts. Instead, we should use the gifts we have been given to the best of our ability and for the benefit of those around us, and together we work God's will for all.
Chapter 13 goes on to say that We can have all the gifts God grants, but if we do not have love in our hearts – they are useless to us, because most of all, God is love! We should be striving to fight our sinful desires, (with his help of course), in favour of helping others. Love others above ourselves, then the gifts he has given us will work in our favour because we are using them as he intended, and not just as we wanted.
Remember, love is all! It is everything we need from God and everything others need from us. So, we should give as God gives, freely and without charge. I think his love is the greatest gift to us. Let’s grab it with both hands and run with it, and all the other gifts will come to us as and when we need them to complete his will in us.
This is how I understand my God.
Read for yourself, see what you think