Listen:
“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 members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (1Corinthians 12:22-26)
Reflect:
“I think I need you to take me to emergency”, (I hate it when my husband says that!) He had been diligently working on our home renovation and had been downstairs cutting a kitchen drawer bottom on his table saw. There was kickback and wood was thrown into his hand hitting his index finger. His finger was clearly not looking good. I’d like to say that my compassion kicked in but my selfishness got the better of me. My first thought was, “This is inconvenient!” Later (not too much later), I was very thankful he still had his hand and nothing had flown into his face!
Diagnosis…shattered bone. Long story short, the doctor was able to cast it without surgery and off we went to California a week later.If one part of our body is injured, it affects our whole body, physical, mental and emotional. His injury was a great lesson to me for the body of Christ.
When one member suffers it affects all of us. How can we be encouragers to the hurting? A kind word, a listening ear, a pat on the back or a smile, our presence, tears, even humor at the appropriate time can be simple, do-able actions to encourage others.
We need each other!
“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up”. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
Prayer response:
“God open our eyes to see the hurting. Give us the strength, wisdom, and kingdom perspective to die to self and reach out to come along side and encourage others.”
—Submitted by Stephanie Edsall
(Stephanie and her husband Mike just recently moved to the Boston area having served with the Navigators collegiate ministry in Bratislava for the past four years. They are enjoying the challenges of home-remodeling-most of the time!)
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