RENEW REFRESH REFOCUS
Day 264
BUILDING OTHERS UP
Pursue love, seek spiritual growth, and use what God has given you to build others up.
Today’s Verse
“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”1 Corinthians 14:1, King James Version
After teaching about love in chapter 13, Paul brings love and spiritual gifts together. He urges believers to pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. Why? Because God’s gifts are not intended merely for personal benefit. They are given so that others may be strengthened, encouraged, and helped to grow.
Paul explains that speaking in tongues may edify the individual, while prophecy edifies the church. The difference is not simply in the gift being exercised, but in whom it benefits. God wants us to grow personally, but He also wants our growth to become a blessing to others. This truth reaches beyond spiritual gifts. We can learn through reading, teaching, and watching the lives of others. Yet knowledge carries responsibility. When we know what is right and refuse to do it, our knowledge has not produced the growth God desires.
God wants us to be strengthened by what we receive from Him and to become a source of strength to others. The knowledge we gain, the gifts we receive, and the opportunities placed before us should help us become more useful in His hands and more willing to serve.
The difference is not simply in the gift being exercised, but in whom it benefits.
God has placed something in our hands that can benefit others. Through our gifts, words, conduct, and service, we can build people up or weaken them.
Ask yourself: Is my life helping others grow in Christ?
Pursue love, seek spiritual growth, and use what God has given you for the edification of others.
Pause and reflect
A question for today
What would it look like this week to use what God has given you to build others up?
Let us pray
Prayer
Lord, help us pursue love and use our gifts, to strengthen others and glorify You faithfully. In Jesus’ Amen.