To Encourage You

1 Corinthians 12:21-27 “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

Have you ever bit your tongue?  I hate when I do that, for it really hurts.  How about poke yourself in the eye?  Same effect!  When we do such things to ourselves, our whole body reacts, for when we hurt one part of our body, the whole body suffers from it. 

That’s the way it is in the church.  As the passage above tells us, we need each other in the body of Christ.  We are vitally connected in a union that God has ordained.  As each of us does the work for which God has gifted us, the whole body receives the blessing. It is as we teach one another, pray for one another, encourage one another, and otherwise build each other up under the guidance of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the body’s head, that the work of Christ advances in the world and the body as a whole and each member within that body is blessed.  Conversely, when we fight with one another, dishonor one another, disregard one another, and otherwise neglect and hurt one another, we are not only hindering the work of the entire body of Christ, but we are also just hurting ourselves.  It makes no sense, but we see it so often. 

The church is a place where love should rule.  As Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:14-15, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”  It’s something that we all need our eyes opened to.  The same holds true in the relationship between spouses.  In Ephesians 5:28-33 we are told that “husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” 

So, long story short, do you want a blessing today?  Do you want to do something that is really, really good for you? Then love someone else in the body of Christ, and especially if that other person is your own spouse.  To do otherwise is like biting your own tongue and poking yourself in the eye – and that doesn’t make any sense either.