What’s most important

It strikes me that as much as Paul is talking about the spiritual gifts, it is not his primary concern. He never goes into details on the gifts as he would have if the gifts themselves were his primary concern.

His concern is that the schisms in the church be taken out.

He reminds them again and again, “You are one body. You share the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God. The gifts you have are to benefit all in the church. You need each other. You are to honor each other.

“Is one of you suffering? Their pain is your pain. Is one of you honored? Rejoice with them! They are part of you and you are part of them.

“You desire all these spiritual gifts. Great! But remember that you are one. So cast out the divisions among you.”

And that leads straight into 1 Corinthians 13.

How about you?

Do you value God’s church and the people in it as much as Paul did?

Or are you thinking like the Corinthians?