1 Corinthians 14

So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church (verse 12)

Are the Spiritual Gifts we seek for the sake of building up the church, or for glorifying ourselves? Why do we seek after Gifts, such as being able to heal, prophesy, and speak in tongues? Who do we want to please – God or ourselves?

I tend to shy away from the Spiritual Gifts for this reason. I don’t want to end up glorifying myself, and I know how prone I am to such self-glorification. I tend to put in more time and effort seeking after the fruit of the Spirit, which has less potential to be misused by my fleshly self.

But this is not what we are commanded to do. We are commanded to seek after Spiritual Gifts, but to see them for the purpose of building up the church and not glorifying ourselves. So that needs to be something that I begin seeking with greater passion, that I may be able to go and help build up the church wherever I am, whatever church, whatever country. I need to be at work to build up the Bride of Christ.