What you are a part of...........

I have been reading in 1 Corinthians 12 about One Body & Many Parts, one of my favorite passages. Sometimes it's easy to feel insignificant as a part in the body of Christ. I'm only one person, I'm not perfect, I've screwed up on so many things in the past, I'm different, I'm not beautiful, I don't know the Bible from cover to cover. Satan puts all these thoughts in your head to make you feel invaluable in the work of the Lord. However each one of us is important in the body of Christ. "A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged & functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it." "As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way- the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach." "If anything you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?"

Then on the flip side, when things are going great, it's easy to think, look at me - look at what I've done, look at what I am doing, look at how beautiful I am. Paul reminds us, "I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, IT IS ONLY BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU ARE A PART OF. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own."

Each one of us, as believers in Christ, is a part of the body. So no matter how significant or insignificant we may feel at times, we have to remember what we are a part of. "You are Christ's body-that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything."



Looking back, it is so exciting to see the work God has done and is doing at Vinings Lake, and I am so thankful that He has allowed me & my family to be a part of it. No matter how significant or insignificant you think you are, it is going to take each one of us, each part, to accomplish the mission God has given us, and reach our community for Christ. Accept your part, whether you like it or not, whether you are the stomach or the embellished hand with beautiful rings, and allow God to use you to make a difference in the lives of others!

(Quotes taken from 1 Corinthians 12, The Message.)