The Grace Gifts of the Holy Spirit
8 - We All Belong to Each Other

Romans 12:
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.   New Living Bible

The challenge comes when we find that others in the Body are not like us. They may not look like us or think like us or approach life the way we do.
I may feel that others should change and be like me, and others may think that I should change and be like them.
This was one challenge Jesus Himself had to deal with all through His public ministry and probably most of His life where His family was concerned.

John 7:
1 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death.
2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters,
3 and Jesus' brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!
4 You can't become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!"
5 For even his brothers didn't believe in him.   New Living Bible

In this season of their lives, the brothers of the Lord Jesus didn't have any clue as to who He was or what His purpose in life was, and they certainly didn't feel that Romans 12:5 was true of them. They felt no kinship with Jesus at all.
They just thought He was weird and crazy.

What should we do when this happens in the Body of Christ?
We should remember that each of us has a special function in the Body, as Romans 12: 4 states.
We should remember others may be different because God has made them for a different purpose in the Body.
This is not to say that we should overlook or condone sinful attitudes and lifestyles in the Body of Christ or that we should allow others to manipulate or control us. The Apostle Paul explains in
Colossians 3:
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
11 In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord [Jesus] forgave you, so you must forgive others.
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom that he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
New Living Bible

Can you imagine a church in which the Jewish Christians insisted that the nonJewish believers take up the Jewish customs and lifestyle before they could fellowship with them?
Can you imagine a church in which the very civilized cultured Greeks had to understand that the Barbarian and uncivilized believers didn't have the same table manners and delicate language that the Greeks had.
Can you imagine a church in which the slaves and free people fellowshipped together? Where the free didn't discriminate against the slaves and the slaves did not despise the free?

Since God has chosen us to be the holy people whom He loves, let us heed Paul’s instructions, then give thanks to God through our Lord Jesus for all His holy people.

Prayer:
Father in heaven,  You have called us to live in peace with each other. So today Lord I want to expand my ability to love those I do not understand. I thank You that You have commanded that I am to put on the new nature You have given me and I am to be renewed as I learn how to know You my Creator.
Today Lord Jesus I want to become like You in my attitude to others. I cannot do this on my own Lord. So I ask that You give me Your wisdom and strength as You change me from the inside.
My declaration today is "I want to be more like Jesus". Thank You for great changes in me that make me like my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,   in His wonderful name I pray,   Amen.



Hope we can get together again tomorrow,
God willing.
Meanwhile, have a great day
walking with The Lord Jesus Christ!