“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” – I Corinthians 12:27 As believers, each of us are a part of the body of Christ. Being His body, is uniting as a collective gathering of followers who come together as His church (His body of believers), to do as He did, so that those who know Him may be encouraged, and those who do not yet know His deity in their own lives, might be drawn unto Him.
image by A God-Man in Christ
“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” – Romans 12:4-5 God places us together in families by faith, to form His body of believers. The quirky collection of Christ-followers who sit beside us on Sundays, are intentionally and brilliantly placed. For in each of us, He has designed different strengths and giftings that He intends us to use to strengthen the body, serve the community, and in all things, give glory to Him. The members that prepare the places where we gather, are equally important in His eyes, to the pastor that is presenting the message. God values each of us equally, and so we ought to also follow our Father’s example.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that not only do we have the privilege to be considered Your body, but You have planted a purpose and a plan for each one of us who enter into Your family by faith. Forgive us for seeing ourselves as either too lofty or too lowly, and help us to remember that our eternal value is in and through You alone. Lead us in love to be united in purpose as we form a fellowship as Your followers. Teach us to trust You and to honor and admonish each member equally, as Your blessed and beloved children. May our unity and solidarity through Your Son, summon those who do not yet know You, unto Yourself. May our every gathering, be it for worship or service, give all glory unto You. Amen.
Revelations In Writing 
Hi Shannon, I also pray for the humility and clear-mindedness not to “thinks of myself more highly than I ought” – another verse from Romans 12. Thanks for the good word today! Judy
Thank you, Judy. Romans holds such a wealth of wisdom! Thanks too for adding what came to mind for you! I love how He uses this community to build and encourage each other. Have a blessed week! 🙂
I like that thought of our unity and solidarity summoning people. Great post.
Thank you. 🙂 Blessings to you as He grows unity and solidarity in all of us!
I think your blog is wonderful and I nominated it for The One Lovely Blog Award. Go here to learn more:
http://lusays.com/2012/11/13/the-one-lovely-blog-award-nomination/
Best wishes to you!
Thank you so much, Lu. 🙂 Blessings to you, and I look forward to reading your blog!
You are very welcome. It was an easy nomination, you have a wonderful blog! Blessings to you!
You are welcome. It was an easy nomination, you have a wonderful blog. Blessings to you!
I that came through more than once, sorry…I was have technical difficulty! Haha!
Shannon, God opened my eyes to a prejudice I have when I read this post. When I read this, “The quirky collection of Christ-followers who sit beside us on Sundays, are intentionally and brilliantly placed. For in each of us, He has designed different strengths and giftings that He intends us to use to strengthen the body, serve the community, and in all things, give glory to Him,” I realized that I look at some of those quirky followers judgmentally. Because I know some of them I see and how they live, I tell myself, judgmentally, that I know they aren’t walking the walk. They have strange or un-biblical beliefs or they are confused about God’s truth, or they don’t serve or belong to a Bible study, or they come to church then go home. God showed me this prejudice clearly here. I need to pray about that prejudice and ask God to remove it. I didn’t even know I had it until I read this post. I hope you don’t think I’m being gushy with you or phony in some way. I think it’s awesome that God works through fellow followers of Jesus who write blogs that impact others in such dramatic ways. Thank you again. God bless.
God is so good! Thank you for sharing, as I am amazed at how He will take our tiny offerings and touch hearts and lives for His glory. Thank you too for your willing transparency as you listen to His leading and obey all that He asks! God bless, friend.