Ephesians 4:12
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.”
Previous verses speak of how when Jesus rose from the dead that He gave gifts to people. Today's verse tells us why He gave these gifts. It's for the equipping of the saints in the work of the ministry. What kind of ministry? From professional ministry to low level tasks. This ministry could be at church, at the work place, at the market or at the playground.
He equips His children. Just as a baby is raised in the ways of the family, so God raises us in the ways of His kingdom. Galatians 5 speaks of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. These are the ways of God's kingdom. These are the ways His children behave.
Philippians 2:13 describes how He does this, "For God is the One working in you both to will and to work according to His good pleasure." He puts the "will" in us to do these things. We want to be loving, we want to be patient and so on. He puts us in situations that try us. We pray for help. He gives it by sometimes altering the situation, but by always altering us.
Naturally we all have self interest. It often drifts into selfishness and opportunism. He changes us. We no longer get upset that we don't get our way. We want His way. It sometimes means getting our way, but it no longer matters. We want God to be glorified. If it means others come to Him, then so be it.
We grow into our gifts. They are normally our talents. He uses these to bless others. Proverbs 18:16 says, "A man’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great men." Our reputation builds. David describes it this way in Psalm 23, "He prepareth a table for me in the presence of my enemies." It's like an honor banquet for us. We don't seek it, nor do we claim responsibility. We give glory to Him. Yet, He likes to bless us.
This is not of our design. Look at the religions of the world and that's what we would do. He built it. Manmade religions exalt man and his efforts. Many have gods that are angry in need of appeasing. Not so in Christ. He is pleased already. We take on His cloak of righteousness and walk right into God's presence. We have a Father who loves us and wants to bless us and others through us.
Thank You, God for these gifts and that You use us to help others and glorify Your name. Help us to comply with You in all this.