⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Verses 7 through 11 present the distribution of gifts to the body; gifts display diversity within unity. God gifts each believer individually with capacity to serve Him. These gifts help preserve unity in the local church.

⁷ But

Although we are “one” in connection with “one Lord, one faith, one God,” and so on, yet God assigns “each” person at least one gift for the church. God’s plan includes both unity and diversity. Unity is not the same as uniformity.

to each one of us

Every believer receives at least one gift from God (discernment, evangelism, mercy, and so on). Therefore, no one is unimportant to the church. God concerns Himself with the individual as well as the whole. He approaches each Christian as unique.

[the] grace was given

In the Greek, the word “the” precedes the word “grace.” “The grace” here is unique; it is the grace that enables our gifts to function. “Grace” is what empowers gifts. The essential idea of grace is to give. God, as the God of grace, is oriented to giving to His own. We do nothing to get His grace; we can only receive it.

Believers do not have the right to choose which gift they prefer. Neither can we pray to receive a gift. We receive our gift by sovereign deposit on our lives. Our gift becomes apparent to others when we exercise it; that is one way we know that we have a gift.

according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

God proportions gifts to the church. God designed the “measure” or portion of the gift specially for each Christian to fulfill. He measures out grace necessary for the function of “Christ’s gift.”

Since God does the measuring here, the church has nothing to do with the gifts it receives; these gifts are the result of God’s unadulterated grace. He measures out the exact nature of the gift. Each gift has distinct abilities. The word “gift” here stresses the cost-free nature of the gift.

PRINCIPLE:

The essence of God’s grace is what He has done for us, not what we have done for him.

APPLICATION:

What we do for God, we do because He has first made provision for us in Christ. Every exhortation of Scripture rests on God’s grace. God gives grace because of who He is, not because of who or what we are. He gives Himself and He gives gifts to us. He also gives enabling grace to use those gifts for His glory.

There is importance in individuality; however, mutuality and individuality are not exclusive to each other. There is a corporate function and an individual function to the church.

Everyone should be content with the place God assigns to them in the body. We do not envy those with greater gifts nor spurn those with lesser. To refuse our place in God’s church is to reject God’s design for the church. If the hand refuses to function as a hand, the body loses a great deal of function.

God gives anyone who receives Christ a spiritual gift. That gift is permanent. It does not matter whether the Christian is young or old, rich or poor. This gift has great impact on the local church.

Go to this site and its following articles to study gifts further: http://versebyversecommentary.com/1-corinthians/1-corinthians-124f-gifts-i/