Not a Pretty Sight
Romans 12:4-6 Each one of us has one body, and that body has many parts. These parts don't all do the same thing. In the same way, we are many people, but in Christ we are all one body. We are the parts of that body, and each part belongs to all the others. We all have different gifts. Each gift came because of the grace God gave us.
It scares me that here, at the beginning of the 21st century, we’re being duped, én masse, into believing that being an individual, is more important than being part of a community.
Picture for a moment, a finger that’s been cut off from a hand. It’s not pretty, is it? And not only is it not pretty, but that finger isn’t going to function all that well. In fact, before very long, unless it’s sown back in place, it’s going to die.
So you have to ask yourself then, why is it that so many people insist on living their lives like a finger cut off from its hand? Why is it that so many people insist on going it alone, on being a superstar, on chasing after success, rather than being who God made them to be?
Romans 12:4-6 Each one of us has one body, and that body has many parts. These parts don’t all do the same thing. In the same way, we are many people, but in Christ we are all one body. We are the parts of that body, and each part belongs to all the others. We all have different gifts. Each gift came because of the grace God gave us.
It seems to me that God’s gone to a lot of trouble to make each of us all so wonderfully different. And then He’s put us together – to function kind of like a body – each one contributing what they were made to contribute, because of who they are. It’s not all that complicated.
And yet, we live in a world that more and more, is about me being me – me getting what I can get. Which is why so many people’s lives look a lot like that dismembered finger. And it’s just not pretty.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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Ingrid Lang Pedersen
Hi Berni, I think you have got some kind of a point – that these days many are totally absorbed in themselves and ...
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Hi Berni,
I think you have got some kind of a point – that these days many are totally absorbed in themselves and their own world.
I think that there is to be a balance between knowing yourself and your identity – and then also to be a part of a functioning unity and fellowship – or different ones of these.
But, really, I think that in order to be in balance with ourselves and others, we basically need to have our identity and balance in Christ, and who we are in Him.
Then we can both have a positive personal life and a positive relationship with others. 🙂