Daily Devotion 11/12/26
Every Part Belongs
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:14-20, 27 - Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body......Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Devotional: Two of the most damaging lies a person can believe about the church are these: I do not belong here, and I do not need anyone else. Both lies isolate. Both lies diminish. And Paul confronts both of them directly. The foot does not stop being part of the body simply because it is not a hand. The ear does not stop belonging simply because it is not an eye. Your differences do not disqualify you -- they are precisely what the body needs. God did not place you in your church community by accident. He placed you there with intention, with purpose, and with a specific contribution in mind that only you can make. The question is not whether you belong. The question is whether you are willing to show up as the part God made you to be.
Personal Reflection: Have you ever felt like you did not quite fit in a church community? How does Paul's image of the body reframe that feeling?
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:14-20, 27 - Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body......Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Devotional: Two of the most damaging lies a person can believe about the church are these: I do not belong here, and I do not need anyone else. Both lies isolate. Both lies diminish. And Paul confronts both of them directly. The foot does not stop being part of the body simply because it is not a hand. The ear does not stop belonging simply because it is not an eye. Your differences do not disqualify you -- they are precisely what the body needs. God did not place you in your church community by accident. He placed you there with intention, with purpose, and with a specific contribution in mind that only you can make. The question is not whether you belong. The question is whether you are willing to show up as the part God made you to be.
Personal Reflection: Have you ever felt like you did not quite fit in a church community? How does Paul's image of the body reframe that feeling?
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