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Brothers and sisters, I want you to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 2 You know that at one time you were unbelievers. You were somehow drawn away to worship statues of gods that couldn't even speak. 3 So I want you to know that no one who is speaking with the help of God's Spirit says, ‘May Jesus be cursed.’ And without the help of the Holy Spirit no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ 4 There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. 6 There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.
7 The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. 8 To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. 9 To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. 10 To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. 11 All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.
12:1–11 The Holy Spirit helps people recognise that Jesus is Lord and King. Once someone believes in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives inside them. The Spirit knows them and helps them to live for Jesus and serve him. The Holy Spirit also gives gifts to believers. The gifts of the Spirit help believers serve one another. The Spirit decides which gift to give to each person. One gift isn't better than another. Each gift is special and important. They all come from the Holy Spirit. They are all to be used to strengthen the faith of Jesus' followers.
12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptised by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn't matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
15 Suppose the foot says, ‘I am not a hand. So I don't belong to the body.’ By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, ‘I am not an eye. So I don't belong to the body.’ By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.
21 The eye can't say to the hand, ‘I don't need you!’ The head can't say to the feet, ‘I don't need you!’ 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can't do without. 23 The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honour. The private parts aren't shown. But they are treated with special care. 24 The parts that can be shown don't need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honour to the parts that didn't have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honoured, every part shares in its joy.
27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. 28 First, God has placed apostles in the church. Second, he has placed prophets in the church. Third, he has placed teachers in the church. Then he has given to the church miracles and gifts of healing. He also has given the gift of helping others and the gift of guiding the church. God also has given the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. 29 Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages they had not known before? Do all explain what is said in those languages? 31 But above all, you should want the more important gifts.
12:12–31 Paul described several ways that the church is like a body. The church is made up of many kinds of people. They come from different places and have different ways of thinking and doing things. They have different gifts from the Spirit. They work and serve in different ways. In this way believers are like the different parts of a human body. Also like the parts of a human body, believers work together as one. They work together to obey Jesus and to tell others about him. Paul also said that the church was in fact the body of Christ. Jesus is like the head that guides and directs the body (Ephesians 5:23). Jesus is now in heaven ruling with the Father. The church continues to do his work on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way the church is the part of Jesus that other people see. This is how the church is like Jesus' body on earth until he returns.
But now I will show you the best way of all.