1 Corinthians 12:12-27 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. Let’s go!
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (NIV)
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
16 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 cease to be part of the body.
17 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?
18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
On verses 12-27: No book in the world emphasizes teamwork more than the Bible, and no passage in the Bible emphasizes teamwork more than 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
Don’t ever buy into the lie that you can be a healthy Christian without being connected to other Christians. That’s like a hand expecting it can survive on its own without being connected to the rest of the body. In the same way, if you were to say “I don’t need to go to church” or “My relationship with God is just a me and God thing so I don’t need anyone else”, eventually your life in Christ will shrivel up and become something much different and much less than God intended it to be.
The fact is: we need each other. We can’t survive without one another. We’re a family, bound together by two of the most precious things on earth. First, we are bound together by the precious blood of Jesus. We are related by blood: the blood of Jesus! Second, as verse 13 emphasizes, we are bound together by God’s precious Holy Spirit (v13), whom we all get to enjoy (“drink” from) and by whom we are all baptized into Christ’s body, the church.
And just like any family, there will be times when we rub each other the wrong way, get on each other’s nerves, step on each other’s toes, and even hurt each other badly. That’s because we’re human and as long as we live in this broken world, we will still be affected in some way by our own sin and immaturity. But never let that be the reason for leaving the body of Christ. You weren’t perfect, yet God loved and accepted you. So who are you to insist that others need to treat you perfectly before you love and accept them? Let’s stick together in unity, focus on the good, and never lose sight of the mission God has given us to reach our city for Jesus.
Thank You Lord for putting us all together as a church family, one big body of Christ. Thank You for all the ways that the other members of my spiritual family – the other parts of Your body – love me, accept me and put up with me. Though we might not treat each other perfectly all the time, we’re still a family and I can’t live without my spiritual family. Teach us to extend grace and mercy toward one another, just as You always do for us. And may You use us to reach this world with Your love and to build your glorious church. Thank You, Lord, for my amazing church family! In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN!
