Not Lacking In Any Gift

Albert Bogle January 19, 2026 4 2

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 (NIVUK)

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge – 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

What does it mean to not be lacking in any gift? How do other readings from the Bible help us to read this passage? While the Corinthians seemed to know about the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, they were not experienced enough in their spiritual lives to use these gifts wisely. 

Paul writing to the Corinthians in chapter 12 explores with them the idea of the Gifts of God being used in harmony with each other. He explains this further in the letter to the Ephesians chapter 4. 

What is important to understand is that the gifts of healing, or of insight, or of faith, or of tongues are given for the common good. They must be used in such a way that no one thinks the gift belongs to them. The gifts of God are for the people of God. Now here is the thing that really counts: the gifts without the graces can cause great disunity in the church. 

What do I mean by this? The graces of the Spirit are in fact ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ in our lives. Paul once again draws the Galatians attention to this in chapter 5 where he talks of the fruit of the Spirit being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. These are the qualities required for the dispensing of the Gifts of God. So let us seek to develop and use and restore the Gifts of God within our churches but let us do it with grace and humility. As we gather around the table of restoration, let us make sure that our spiritual apprenticeship is teaching us how to move with the graces at the table in order to restore and use the gifts around the table.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus,

You are the Master Craftsman

You move with grace and compassion around the table

Lifting up the broken and disturbed

You come to the table 

Gathering us into one body

Gently moving among us

Lifting a gift and placing it in our hands

To one You suggests the gift of healing

To another You offer the gift of faith

To another You say be  a prophet — perhaps for a day!

And to another You say be a teacher — live what you say

You smile as You gaze round the table

Then You say, this table is a sign of our unity.

The gifts are are a sign of my power given to you

But the power itself is revealed in the ‘graces’

And as your hands break the bread we hear you say 

‘Seek out the graces before you learn to use the gifts’