22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
I had a chance to look over yesterday’s article, and there sure were a lot of typos! I guess that’s what happens when you post at 3 am. As it was, I wasn’t sure I was going to finish it at all. In one sense, it isn’t finished. I notice that there still is a loose string as I quickly browse through it all.
It might not seem like such a big deal, but I almost but not quite really get to the true summation of what Paul was writing about. Sure, he wants us to be sacrificial in our serving to others, but then why list anything at all? What is he really listing, and why is he doing so?
Like I asked before, who is being blessed by the list of charismas? I hope I made the point clear that the one in which the charisma is working is simply the conduit of that blessing going to others. It is odd to think of these things as gifts, for the only way you can really take advantage of them is to give them away.
And then, it struck me. The elusive phrase where I had seen this list before suddenly flashed in my mind. Each so-called “gift” is generally followed by an action. What Paul and Peter both are writing about are calling the reader to action.
“What action?” you may ask.
Acts of service.
That is about the simplest phrase I know of to describe what the intent of those passages are.
So, go commit some acts of service that should extend directly from the main thing that Paul said we should be pursuing: Love.