12:29,30
Having listed various gifts and ministries (and the list should not be considered as exclusive) Paul raises the rhetorical question, are all ...? Clearly expecting the answer no. All these things matter and help contribute to a healthy church, but Paul is just making what should be evidently true, that all are different, and that is the way it is meant to be.
12:31
“Eagerly desire the greater gifts”. It will be chapter 14 before Paul tells what he means by “the greater gifts”, and this will be prophecy. However, before that there will be chapter 13, the great chapter on love. Some consider this next chapter to not really fitting, but in reality it fits perfectly with what Paul is teaching. The Corinthians had a fundamental attitude problem, their thinking was often very worldly. They were comparing themselves, and comparing others, wanting to know “who is the greatest”. This was not a problem unique to the Corinthians (Matt 18:1). The chapter on love shows us how we should be thinking, he will show us “the most excellent way”. It is with the right attitude or mindset that we should use the gifts, and function as a church.
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