STRENGTHENED IN SPIRIT TO REACH OUT TO OTHERS

“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts.” 1 Corinthians 14: 1

So many people approach the subject of the manifestations or gifts of the Holy Spirit from a purely doctrinal or analytical point of view. To do this is to miss the real significance and wonder of all it all. Our ability to fully appreciate the magnificent gifts and tools the Lord has placed in our hands depends on the depth of our vision and motivations. What we see determines what we reach for. What we desire (and why we want it) determines the passion and enthusiasm with which we pursues it.

The apostle Paul covered the issues of desire and motivation when he said we should “pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.” When we move in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit we are expressing our hunger for God’s active presence among us and we are showing our love and care for those around us. Jesus healed people because He was moved with compassion. We will move in the gifts of the Spirit as we are moved with His compassion. The gifts therefore are instruments of God’s love. It is Pharisaical to argue the theology of healing when you have people around you sick and in need of healing. I want to move in prophetic insight because there are people who need an encouraging word from God. I want to have a word of wisdom because someone is perplexed or confused and asking God for direction. I want to see miracles because so many people are facing impossibilities and need the “waters to part.” I want to pray in tongues because it strengthens my prayer life, strengthens my spirit, and helps release my ability to move in the other gifts of the Spirit, which will in turn touch others with the compassion, presence, and power of God.

When we speak of spiritual gifts, we are speaking of the presence of Jesus Christ working among us. We are not necessarily focusing on the spectacular and the dramatic, although these do occur from time to time. But mostly we look for those unobtrusive and often unnoticed acts of the Holy Spirit working in the background and which flow among us as life and grace, quietly yet deeply touching and blessing the lives of those around us. It is those daily, obscure, and non-spectacular acts of obedience that strengthen the church. It flows out of the individual’s desire to be used of God, and his willingness to reach out to people with love and compassion. It is to these that I direct you.

PRAYING IN TONGUES BUILDS UP THE BELIEVER
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11 lists the manifestations of the Holy Spirit (Spiritual gifts). Each of these gifts works through you to touch or bless others, except for tongues, which is the only one specifically designed for you to use to build up and strengthen yourself.

“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…” 1 Corinthians 14: 4
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”  Jude 1: 20
When you pray in tongues you edify yourself. This verse has been used erroneously to say that praying in tongues was for the immature, ignorant, and unstable. But all Christians need to be edified and built up. Why would you throw away an obvious tool that is placed in your hand for that very purpose. It is not noble or logical to say, “I will seek to build up others, but I will not build up myself.” It is proper and necessary that we seek to strengthen ourselves in the Lord.
Paul himself says that he prayed in tongues more than all the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14: 18), and he was a spiritual giant. To say that tongues was for the unstable and immature is actually a powerful argument in favor of tongues. The most serious cases require the most potent medicine, and what works for a person who is weak should do wonders for a person who is healthy.

Praying in tongues is an important step in strengthening your own spirit and releasing you to move more freely in the Holy Spirit. It is a door that opens unto the other manifestations of the Spirit. Tongues is much like a key. A key is not the most important tool around the house, but it is vital in unlocking access to other more important things in the house.