Believers are members of each other in the body of Christ.

Romans 12:4-5 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. As we consider today’s scripture, let’s remember that in the previous verse, Paul called his readers to have sound judgment regarding the body of Christ and the faith operating within each one of them. Apparently this was important to Paul because he understood how important it was to judge the body of Christ rightly. When he was Saul, he persecuted believers and had no idea that he was persecuting Jesus until Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus. He called the Corinthians also to exercise sound judgment about themselves when he wrote, “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:28-31). The Roman Gentile believers needed to be warned just as did the Corinthians. Perhaps we need it today. They were failing to love each other as Jesus loved them because they were not thinking of God’s mercies by which they were made into one body. When we live to love with Jesus, our minds need to be renewed to think like Jesus thinks—to judge His body as He does. That’s what the Holy Spirit in Paul is helping us do. Notice he wrote, “we have” many members in one body, not “Jesus has many members.” This means that I have you, and you have me. We have each other, because by the mercies of God, we have all been placed together into Jesus. So we, who are many, are functioning members of each other in one body. Jesus has not made us all the same, but given us an assortment of functions which operate according to the measure of faith He has given each one. It is not our place to judge our brother or sister. That’s Jesus’ place. Our place is to love them with Jesus. We are now the body of Christ in this world. What a glorious mystery! So today’s encouragement is to grasp and apply this wonderful reality as we think about ourselves and each other. When God places someone in your path, He may be giving you a member of your body in Christ so that He can love them through you for His joy and glory. Receive what Jesus gives you to love them, and you can know that your spiritual service will be holy to the Lord and accepted by Him—regardless of how great or how small. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com