I was recently having a good conversation with a friend Brian about speaking in tongues and was going through Corinthians 12 about the Gifts when I was hit by these verses: 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 14-31. They talk about the needs of the body for specific parts. This is a very familiar verse among Christians, and many know it or know of it. I thought I would share how this impacted me with people who I share ministry duties with (and with anyone else who happens to read it).
One passage really struck me tonight, and that was verses 14-18:
Now the body is not made up of one part, but of many. If the foot should say "because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be a part of that body. And if an ear were to say "because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If a whole body were an eye, where would its sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
This convicted me strongly because I often play the part of the foot wishing I was a hand or the ear wishing I was an eye. The truth is that there is a reason I am a foot and not a hand, or an ear and not an eye, and that is because I am best at the job I have been made for. A person with hands for feet could walk, but because the hand lacks the arch of a foot, the hands used for walking would quickly break under the strain, leaving the body crippled (this is why monkeys cannot walk upright for long- they have no arch in their "feet").
Whatever I am in the Body of Christ, be it an armpit or an eyebrow, a nose or a knee, I have a purpose that God has given me because it is suitable for me, and I am "custom-made" for it. I often demand of myself that I must give God only my best. But I cannot even give the best I have to offer (which is often small compared my foolishness!) if I am not functioning in my own place as a part of the body.
Let the Lord remind you through this note, as he has reminded me through scripture, that there is Meaning in your Creation and Purpose in your Place.
The Vibe Tribe Presents: Liquid Love
A self-portrait of DJ Soulstice (me!)
About Me
- David
- I'm just a fool for God, who is finished with trying to box God in and telling him what he's like and what he does and how he does it. I know God has a certain kind of character, and that he always maintains that character, but really he reveals it in so many ways...God is a creative lover and an absolute judge.
6 comments:
Does this mean that I no longer need to answer the mile long list of comments or has the info I've been sharing finally been assimilated?
Hugs & Love
You know, I have been looking through all of my old blog posts, and I realize now that God has been trying to show this to me for some time... but it hadn't reached the heart until now. I am thankful for His patience with me.
Yes, I know I've had moments where I have certainly lost my patience with you on a few occasions, and I'm very sorry for it. I need to work on that. I often say that patience is a virtue I don't have... *sigh*
Hugs & Love
Eh...not really. I can't remember any seriously bad things you have ever said.
Just because I didn't say them doesn't mean they are any less real. I mean really, it's just as bad to think, "What a stubborn, hard-headed, thick-skulled, narrow-minded hypocrite," as it is to come out and say it. Yes, I've had moments like those... fortunately they are not a constant thing! I'm glad I didn't let my frustration out too often, but I am still sorry for those times that I did.
Hugs & Love
I generally try to avoid labeling people hypocrites. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. The only person who could call someone out as a hypocrite in an objective sense was Christ. We are all hypocritical in some way. Calling another person a hypocrite as an objective evaluation is kind of an absurd thing coming from another human.
Pointing out another person's hypocrisy as a relative thing is a different matter. If it allows that person to be come aware of it when they were not before, then it can be good.
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