Day 19 - One Body

Name: Nick Breitbart (staff)

Scripture:  

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:5)

Reflections:

As we continue in this season of Lent I have been encouraged and comforted that I am not alone, that we, together as one body, are seeking after our Father. 

Although we are many, we are one.  The scriptures clearly tell us that we are one. The Apostle Paul does not tell us that we could be one… will always feel like we are one…ought to be one.  He tells us that we ARE one.

I have an older brother and sister.  I can fight against that relationship, but they will always be my siblings.  In the same way, we, as the body of Christ,  can attempt to ignore or rebel against our spiritual family, but we cannot deny the reality that it exists.

How can this be? In a season where there are more church denominations than fast food chains, how can we be “one”?  With so many differences on what we believe, how can we be united? 

As I reflected on an old devotional by E. Stanley Jones this past week, it hit me. I believe the answer is found in the verse above: we are not always “one” in what we believe, but we are “one” in whom we trust.  We are one in Christ.

Only when we fully realize this fact will we complete Jesus’s new command in John 13:34-35 to love one another.  When the world sees the body of Christ loving one another as family, “all men will know that we are His disciples.”

Prayer for the Day:

Father, may we realize our connection as family; may we live and love accordingly; and may this world know that we are your disciples because of our love.