1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (NRSV)
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12For 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. Verse 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Verse 14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. Verse 15If the foot would 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. Verse 16And if the ear would 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. Verse 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? Verse 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. Verse 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? Verse 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. Verse 21The 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." Verse 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, Verse 23and 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; Verse 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, Verse 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. Verse 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Devotion
Knit together in the body of Christ, we live out the intention of God’s creation. We are one body in Christ, created in God’s image, baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ, infused with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Living out Christ’s life in the world as many members, we are one in the God-given unity that is ours in Jesus Christ. Just as in the human body each member is indispensable to the others, so, too, is our identity in the world.
Prayer
Gracious God, in Jesus’ death and resurrection we are called to live as the body of Christ in the world. As members of one body, we see in suffering that all suffer; in honor, all are honored, until Christ comes in glory. Amen.