Day 37 - 1 Corinthians 12:14-26

14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Tori's Comments:

I think that some people have gifts they don't know what to make of, and thus don't use for God's glory like they could.

But each one is needed, and designated by God for a purpose..

Terrie's Comments:

I had heard it said once that if we were all eyeballs we wouldn't get very much done... the image in my mind was a dirty, hairy eyeball rolling down the street... that is just plain silly and it renders the eyeball useless because there is no eye socket to protect it.  But this is sometimes how we act in church... we want to be a part that God never intended us to be.  Consider this... if you are trying to be something God didn't intend then it is like the church is operating without that part... without a big toe - we are off balance... without eyes - we can't see... without hands - we wouldn't be able to be hands on in so many ways... without ears (as interesting as they look) - we wouldn't be able to hear or listen.  If you aren't doing what God has asked you to do, you are causing the body of Christ to operate with a handicap.

Are you content with what God has asked you to do? Are you looking for something different?  Have you caused the body of Christ to operate with a handicap perhaps?

Another thing that stands out in this passage is that we are to be concerned for each other equally.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.  My husband had a toothache this week.  Even though a tooth is an extremely small part of our body that we just take for granted most of the time, it made his whole body suffer.  He didn't eat or sleep for 2 days.  When one part of the body of Christ suffers it should affect the rest of the parts because we are one.  We should also be celebrating as a whole body when a part of us is honoured :-) It is foolish to rival against your own body.

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!