“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,” 1 Corinthians 12:21-23
Honestly, this whole chapter deserves a good read right now but let me sum it up for you. Basically, Paul is writing to the church of Corinth and explaining to them that Christians all have different roles. Each one of us is unique in our calling and purpose. Each one of us is unique in our God-given identity and yet, we are all one.
We have similarities but we are also different.
The best way he explains this is like a person's body. You wouldn’t expect a foot to function like a hand. You need both your feet and your hands to function as they were designed. As Christians we are as strong as our “weakest” link. Paul writes that God honors the ones we deem dishonorable. He says that when one of us suffers we all suffer.
If you knew that your words held the power of life and death, would you be more careful what you say?
What if you said, “I hate my feet they’re so ugly and they walk funny” and then the next day you found out you had developed stage 4 cancer in your feet and would need to amputate? Obviously that would be so devastating and detrimental.
We talk about the things we don’t like about other Christians and how they’re functioning, all the time. Do we not realize that we are speaking death over our own body?
Maybe God has called you to be loud in this season. Maybe you feel called to stand up for injustices in this season and by doing so you know you will lose friendships. Maybe you’re even mad that other Christians aren’t fighting with you but are fighting against you. I have news; their calling us not your calling.
Maybe God has called you to be quiet in this season. If you feel God is telling you to honor authorities and not to buck against our leaders and you are infuriated at the Christians that are, I have news; we are all different members with different callings.
That said, are you actually seeking God right now - this hour - and not following your own opinions, logic and intelligence? Heart check please!
As Christians, we need to stop fighting and criticizing and instead assume the best of each other.
Remember "love hopes all things" right? Yes. Scripture also tells us there will be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Some of us are so fearful of that, we are missing the move of God because we are so focused on finding the wolves. JESUS is our Shepard and protection!
I believe we are mostly motivated from two places: fear and love. Sometimes we justify our actions and say that we are doing or saying things because it’s unloving not to. Wishful thinking... Truthfully, if we were to actually allow God to do a heart check, we’d likely find it’s out of fear.
We want to be in control and it scares us that we aren’t.
We say we trust God and our logical theology about Him says He will come through. Our actions tell a different story. Out of the heart the mouth speaks.
More than ever, we individually need to ask God to reveal if there are any wicked ways in our hearts.
More than ever, Christians need to stand together, be united, and kill the cancer that we are growing in our own bodies by being hateful toward each other.
Sometimes we are putting resistance inward when we should be putting it outward. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!
We need to resist the evil in the world. Not resist people. Resist the evil, not each-other.
I want to encourage you, Christian, ask God to reveal your heart.
I want to encourage you to live out love and not be paralyzed by fear. I want to encourage you to actually ask God questions. Don’t just talk at Him. Be still and let Him minister to your heart. Worship, get in the word, talk with Christians you know are close with Him.
GET CLOSE TO HIS HEART.
Now is the time! Do not wait any longer! Turn off and get rid of anything that is consuming your time that doesn’t bring you closer in your relationship with Jesus. Church wake up! It’s go time! Make sure you have your lamp and your oil!!! (Matthew 25:1-13) The word of God and Holy Spirit.
Remember Jesus is love, perfect love casts out fear, and because of Christ we have Holy Spirit living in us! Love lives in us! The fear you battle can go in Jesus name!
Lord I pray You replace fear with love right now. I pray for anyone reading this, bring peace - tangible peace - over them right now. Let every fear and worry be dismantled. Father, I pray You would take Your rightful place on the throne in our hearts and that we would no longer be ruled by fear in Jesus' name, Amen.
~ Amanda Santistevan
Comentarios