“If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” (1 Cor. 12:15-16).

Despite our tendency to want someone else’s role, we each need to accept the assignments in life that we ourselves have been given, or are qualified to perform. We can’t excuse ourselves from our obligations simply because we lack someone else’s abilities. This is especially important to remember if we are members of the body of Christ. If we are a “foot,” for example, we must not say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body.” In Christ, it is God who has apportioned the various abilities: “God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (1 Cor. 12:18). It is not good to question God’s organization of the body.

The “body” is an apt metaphor for Christ’s followers because a human body is an organism where each member is needed. Some parts of the body seem to get more publicity, but no part is without an important use. And it is when all of the parts work together healthily that the body functions as it was intended to function. Christ, of course, is the head, “from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16).

Humility means that we try to see ourselves just as God sees us. When we do this, we will not think too highly of ourselves (Rom. 12:3), but neither will we think too lowly of ourselves. It is just as wrong to deny our abilities and dodge our duties as it is to be poisoned with pride. And it is not humility but false humility that causes us to “badmouth” ourselves and the tools that are in our toolbox. In truth, God has given to each of us the abilities that He has because those are the resources we need to do the work that belongs to us – right where we are! It is tempting to think that we could do a better job if we occupied someone else’s place, but that is probably not true. If we won’t serve Christ where we are, then we wouldn’t serve Him anywhere else.

Think About It!

Have A Great Day!

Tom Moore
Park Heights church of Christ
P. O. Box 107
1300 East Boynton Street
Hamilton, Texas 76531
http://www.parkheightscoc.com
http://harrisandmoore.org
https://fromthepreacherspc.org/
http://www.syfirst.org
http://preachersfiles.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/preacherspc/

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and sings it back to you when you have forgotten how it goes.”