One body, many parts

So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God’s message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully. (verses 6-8)

Read Romans 12:1-8

A woman I visited once was losing her sight gradually as a result of ongoing medical treatment for cancer. She remarked that people take a healthy body and mind for granted. Only in the process of losing her sight did she realise the importance of something she’d taken for granted for most of her life.

Paul likens God’s people to one body with many different parts. God has made you with unique gifts as one part in the body of his people. Whatever your gifts are, God has designed you to use them to serve the whole body and in accord with his word. The woman’s eyes had been a blessing to her whole body. Let God use you in whatever way he chooses, small or great, to be a blessing to others in his church. And you can be sure that they will be a blessing to you.

Thank you, Father, for making me unique. Help me not to seek my own glory but to serve others for the benefit of the whole body. Amen.

by Simon Cooper, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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