The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:18-25 NASB1995

But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

The church is not a place we go to once or twice a week where we sit in rows in chairs or in pews, and then we sing songs picked out by one person, and then we listen to a sermon taught by one person, and then we go home until the next week. We, the people of God, are The Church, the Body of Christ. And all of us who have died with Christ to sin and who are walking in obedience to our Lord are the ministers to the rest of the body of Christ. And we are to be encouraging one another daily so we won’t be deceived by sin.

And all of us who are walking by faith, in obedience to our Lord, letting him guide and direct our lives, are necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ. We are all necessary! And not one of us should consider ourselves not necessary. And we should not treat one another as though we are not necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ. For God has gifted us all with spiritual gifts, and he has assigned all of us our body parts within the universal body of Christ, and we are to be doing what God has assigned.

For me, my body part is to write down what the Lord teaches me each day from his word and to post these writings on the internet. And the Lord brought me here, for there was no room for me in these institutional market-driven “churches” of today where a few select people do all the ministering while the rest of us sit as spectators. I was not wanted because I spoke the truth of the gospel in places where so many have diluted the gospel to appease human flesh. So God placed me where he could use me.

So, all of us who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, who are walking in obedience to his commands in holy living and no longer as slaves to sin, should pray and ask the Lord to show us our body parts so that we can function in those necessary body parts for the encouragement and strengthening of the rest of the body of Christ. And we won’t all be the same, and we won’t all have the same gifts or functions, but we are all still necessary. And so we should make room for one another, shouldn’t we?

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after You

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

To You alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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The Body of Christ

An Original Work / April 19, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love