The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body...But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 18-20.
There is so much that could be said about these verses and the passage they're from, but I want to highlight the verses' emphasis on believers being one body made of many parts. I think it is encouraging to be reminded that the "body of Christ" (that is, all believers) is made of many individuals who each have a part to play. No part is too small not to be needed and each part needs to work with the other parts to ensure that the body functions as well as possible.
This means that, although people may notice and personally thank the visible and "important" parts of the body (such as the pastor/minister, music team, etc - and there's nothing wrong with doing that), the church couldn't function to its best ability to serve God without the other, less visible, parts. For example, can you imagine how your church services would run without the person (or people) who puts together all the duty rosters and lists? Or what would happen if the people who always help set up and clean up before and after church services or other church functions decided to stop doing that because their job wasn't important enough?
Do you sit and think, "I don't know how to serve my church?" or "I wish I had the gift of _______". God has blessed us all with different personalities and gifts and I believe he wants us to use our gifts to faithfully serve the church, no matter how small or insignificant we may think they are. If you don't know what your gifts are, pray to God about it and talk to those who know you best. And we should also be thankful for everybody else's contribution, big or small, perhaps even personally thanking someone for how much they care for God's people by cooking meals for the sick, or for always looking out for the lonely or newcomers, etc, etc. And may God be honoured and glorified by how we serve him and each other with our various gifts!
Deb - dspdavey/Domum Vindemia
Comments (4)
I love all these beauty finds!
We are the body of Christ and we each are important in our own way. Thank you Deb for that reminder.
♥♥♥
Sue
These items look really good, and thanks for reminding me my gifts and talents are just as important as anybody else's.
What a wonderful blog, Deb! We are all created with certain talents and gifts as well as a special purpose. God loves us and values each of us. It is a blessing to be able to show our love for Him and for others by using our particular gifts. Thank you for featuring my shop! ♥Diane