ODJ: the body of Christ


May 15, 2013 

READ: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 

Our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where He wants it (v.18).


Two nights before I moved to Africa 5 years ago, I panicked. As much as I believed the Lord was calling me to Uganda, I feared that by going there I would forfeit my friends back home. I thought they would forget me and that we’d quickly share nothing in common after I journeyed to a new continent, culture and life.


To take my step of faith I had to cling once again to Romans 15:13, embracing the promise that God, the source of hope, would fill me “completely with joy and peace” as I trusted in Him. The verse also acknowledges that He will fill me with an overflowing amount of “confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit”.


When I touched ground in East Africa, I leaped into work and ministry. Amid the challenges and suffering I experienced, I had little time to think about things back home. Amazingly (though in hindsight, not surprisingly in God’s economy), the more I poured into the hurting people in Uganda, the more the body of Christ back home connected with me—even when I was poor in my correspondence. They came alongside me in a profound way. They gave. They prayed. They joined me in loving the Ugandan people. As we served together, despite the long distance between us, we became closer to each other and, most importantly, to the Lord. 


All of us “together are Christ’s body” states 1 Corinthians 12:27. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad” (v.26).


Today, remember your brothers and sisters who are serving far away from you, as well as those serving in your own backyard. Reveal the depth of love, teamwork and strength of the body of Christ to them.—Roxanne Robbins


MORE
As you’ve taken steps of faith that may have cost you friends or comforts, how did you experience the love of Christ that is “too great to understand fully”? (Ephesians 3:19).
 
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Invite the believers in your life to pray for you as you take a step of faith. How can you better encourage and support those who are serving God in challenging places?