“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.” (1 Corinthians 12:27-31)

Desiring to walk in the greater gifts is something that Paul commanded the Corinthians to do. If we were commanded to desire these gifts then it must be possible for us to obtain them.

There must be something in the desiring of these gifts that produces the gift within us. Therefore as we extend ourselves toward God an understanding of these gifts may burst deeper in our hearts and then burst into the world around us.

As we walk this path of faith we are inspired to have faith by Holy Spirit to become something greater than what we are today.

I have walked in many of the gifts of the Spirit and as such I have become a gift to the church.  In becoming a gift to the church I mean to say that my life is a watering hole where people can come to find God.

In desiring to become this gift I am stating to the Lord that I am willing to allow Him to use me to bless whoever He wishes to bless.  My life is no longer my own but it is His to do as He desires.

In this way I become a gift because I am opening my life up in such a way that it becomes an example of what God can do in a life that is open to Him.  The desiring produces the ability to obtain to or become the gift.

I personally will not be satisfied until I become everything that I can become in Christ.  That means I will have to extend myself in ways that I never even imagined and in ways which now may seem uncomfortable, but extend myself I will in order to become the greater gift.

If one of the gifts to the church is to be an apostle, then I desire to be an apostle, because Paul commanded me to desire the greater gifts. I only have a vague notion of the role of an apostle, but because Paul tells me to desire this gift, then I will desire it, and I expect to become one because apparently the way to be one is to desire to be one.

I want to be used in the most incredible ways by God.  If the Lord should tarry I want my testimony to be such that people will look back and say Darren Canning was a man who walked with the Spirit of God.

When he prayed for you things happened.  When he commanded the devil to leave he left.  When he prayed for the sick they were healed.  When he prayed for the dead they rose.  When he preached fire fell from heaven and lives were completely transformed.

In fact I want my witness to grow even stronger once I am gone.  I want people to be learning from me until the end of time.

I desire this inside more than I desire anything else, more than I desire breath and more than I desire life.  I want to be remembered as a mighty man of God filled with the presence of God.  There is nothing wrong with this desire because I am desiring the greater gifts.

I want the Lord to say to me, “You were given much in life and you gave much in life.  Well done, my friend, well done.”

I don’t want to be accused of not using the talents He offered me.  I want to use every last drop of life that I have for the Lord, and in the end I want to hear His voice calling me home to my rest.

Would you also “eagerly desire the greater gifts?”