Daily Devotional - Terms of Agreement - WK6 - 2/4/25 - Day 35 - "Functioning Properly"

Author: Deacon Jermaine Green

“Functioning Properly!”
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 ESV

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[a] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, [b] yet one body. 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,”

Devotion:
Today’s text focuses on the analogy of our body and how the parts of the body work together. There is no more important part of the body, because each is needed for our human body to function properly. The parts of our body stay in their functions and do it well. When one part does not work properly, it affects our entire body. Then we are alerted that something is not quite right, because our body has reacted in a negative way. The same is true for the Body of Christ. Each of us have gifts and talents, our functions if you will. When we operate in our functions and do it well, the Body of Christ is like a well-oiled machine. However, when one of us stops functioning properly, it throws the whole body off. This is why it’s important for us to work together in unity through being content with our function. No one part is more important than the other. When we understand our function and work in that function, we contribute to the Body of Christ working holistically.

Prayer:
Lord, we give thanks in all things that You have done for us. Help each of us to realize and operate in our gifts and talents. Our desire is to always use our gifts and talents to help the Body of Christ function properly! In Jesus’ Name, Amen!