The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.
Our bodies don't have just one part. They have many parts. Suppose a foot says, “I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, “I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.
A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, but we don't have to be modest about other parts.
God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26
A few weeks ago I broke my finger and as it heals I am discovering how important one finger can be for the rest of the body. The splint that keeps my finger immobilized is doing its job, but it prohibits my right hand from opening doors, packages and even a bag of peanuts! I had no idea how important one finger can be to how my body functions.
When all of the parts of my body are doing what they were designed to do, then my daily tasks are pretty simple. But when one part, even a small part of my body will not work properly my whole body suffers!
Never forget that what you do as part of the body of Jesus Christ on this earth is critical in accomplishing His will. Never think of your job in His Kingdom as unimportant! My broken, but healing finger looks pretty bad with the scars and temporary pins to keep the bones aligned, but I am really excited about the prospect of it
working again with the rest of my body!
If you know a broken believer who needs to be healed, remember that the whole body of Christ will be blessed when he or she is well again!
“Lord Jesus open my eyes today to those members of Your Body who need to be cared for as they heal! And may You be praised forever. Amen.”
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