J19

"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ." Ephesians 4:7

God has given gifts to believers, as we can see in Romans 12 and also in
1Corinthians, chapters 12 through 14. Although believers are to give
diligence to maintain the unity of the Spirit, this does not mean that
each is a carbon copy of the other.

Paul writes, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
to profit withal" (1Corinthians 12:7). This means that a gift is the
Spirit of God doing something through the believer for the purpose of
building up the body of believers. It is for the profit of the whole
body of believers. No gift is given to you to develop you spiritually. A
gift is given to you in order that you might function in the body of
believers to benefit and bless the church.

No gift is to be used selfishly for personal profit. In fact, it is not
a gift if it is being used that way. A gift is given to every member of
the body to enable him to function for a very definite reason in his
position in the body.

Each believer is given a gift so that he may function in the body of
believers in a particular way. When he does this, the body functions.
That is where we find the unity of the Spirit. Along with the gift it
says every one of us is given grace to exercise that gift in the power
and fullness of the Spirit of God. When each believer functions in their
peculiar gift, it produces harmony, as does each member of the human
body.

When one member of the body suffers, the whole body suffers ~ if you do
not exercise your gift in the body, you throw the entire body out of
tune. God Bless You.