1 Corinthians 14:12

12 It's the same with you. You want to have gifts of the Spirit. So try to do your best in using gifts that build up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 14:12

Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts,
&c.] Gr. "of spirits"; that is, "of the gifts of the Spirit", as the Syriac version renders it; and we rightly, "spiritual gifts"; the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, for which the apostle does not blame them; these being what he had before exhorted them to covet earnestly, and zealously affect and desire: but then he further advises,

seek that ye may excel, to the edifying of the church:
above all, be desirous of such gifts, and of excelling in them, and abounding in the exercise of them, which may be most profitable and edifying to the members of the church; and what these were, and in what manner to be used, he had before signified: the Alexandrian copy reads, seek that ye may prophesy.

1 Corinthians 14:12 In-Context

10 It is true that there are all kinds of languages in the world. And they all have meaning.

11 But if I don't understand what someone is saying, I am a stranger to that person. And that person is a stranger to me.

12 It's the same with you. You want to have gifts of the Spirit. So try to do your best in using gifts that build up the church.

13 For that reason, those who speak in languages they had not known before should pray that they can explain what they say.

14 If I pray in another language, my spirit prays. But my mind does not pray.