1 Corinthians 12:14-31
When we look at our bodies, we might well be amazed! "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made", exclaims David in Psalms 139:14. Yes, what diversity and yet what harmony in this complex set of members and organs of which even the smallest has its purpose and particular function! The eye and the little finger, for example, cannot replace one another. But the second enables the first to get rid of the dust which irritates it. If only one organ functions inadequately or in an irregular way, the whole body will soon be ill.
All this has its parallel in the Church, the body of Christ. "Those members . . . which seem to be more feeble, are necessary" (v. 22) and each one must take care not to despise either his own function (vv. 15, 16) or that of others (v. 21). An old, frail Christian lady, by her prayers, by a timely word or simply by financial support may perhaps sustain the zeal of an evangelist or pastor. Thus, whatever each one has received let him use it for others as a good steward of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10).