If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 1 Corinthians 12:26 NLT
Both my mother and my grandmother warned me, but I didn’t listen.
As a young boy, biting my fingernails was one of my nervous habits. “You’re gonna bite one of those nails into the quick, and it’s going to get infected,” my mother and grandmother repeatedly cautioned. And I did.
One day, I noticed a green puss pocket by the nail of my left index fingernail. Infection. I had picked the nail into the quick. Reluctantly, I showed Mom. Why she didn’t boil it out with peroxide, or sterilize a needle and prick the puss pocket, I’m not sure. She squirmed when it came to things like that. I suppose Dad did too because she didn’t ask him either.
The next thing I knew, Mom called my grandmother, and they both carted me to the emergency room. As I screamed for my grandmother—who was outside—the doctor removed part of my fingernail, cleaned the infection, and bandaged my finger. Mom? She fainted. Nurses put her on the table beside me.
Since I wrote with my left hand, having my index finger wrapped made writing difficult. I quickly discovered how challenging life would be without this finger. In spite of this incident, it took my grandmother paying me two dollars for each nail I’d let grow out for me to stop biting my nails.
After mentioning how God has uniquely gifted each of His children, Paul reminded early believers how important each person was to the body of Christ.
God creates us with different personalities and gives us various gifts and talents. No one matches us exactly. Although we group personalities into types and gifts into categories, God gives each of us unique opportunities. No one else can be us or be used of God as God intends to use us.
Even though we’re special, we are interconnected. We need each other. God’s Kingdom has no room for Lone Ranger Christians. When others hurt, we all hurt. When anyone fails to use their gifts and talents, the Kingdom work suffers. We can always do more together than we can apart.
With different personalities and backgrounds, it’s inevitable we won’t get along all the time. But we can disagree without being ornery. We have common ground to work from: our faith in Christ.
When you’re tempted to go at life alone, remember God says all parts are needed.
Tweetable: Are you working with others in unity?
Prayer: Father, give us wisdom to work together in unity as we do Your Kingdom’s work.
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Amen. I pray we all work together to share His love and glory.
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