“For 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.” — 1 Cor 12:12
Have you ever thought about what part you are in the Body of Christ?
Are you an eye, a clear thinker who’s able to see what’s most important, a visionary?
Or are you a hand, helping out where you can, lending yourself out to those in need?
Or are you an ear, ever ready to listen to someone’s sorrows?
Or are you a nose, stepping in when the eye’s limit has been reached, sniffing out the truth, whether it’s solving a mystery or determining if that expiration date was real or just a suggestion?
Maybe you’re a back, happy to share your strength, or a knee, the first to bring a situation to prayer or to intercede on someone’s behalf.
Or maybe you’re a foot, willing to go the extra mile for anyone who asks.
Or are you the hair, adding beauty and flair to the everyday?
Of course, as parts, we all have our weaknesses. If you’re an eye, you may be fragile and get wildly irritated by small things.
If you’re a hand, you could be prone to clapping back.
If you’re an ear, you might be a little too eager to listen to gossip.
If you’re a nose, you can be overly involved in others’ affairs or be a bit stuffy.
If you’re a back, you may be prone to taking on too much, which can cause you to tense up at the most inopportune times.
If you’re a knee, you might go weak in front of an audience.
If you’re a foot, you may get easily tripped up.
And, if you’re hair, you can be unpredictable and difficult to work with.
But you know what the great news is about being just one part of a whole body?
There’s always someone else around to make up for our weaknesses, someone made specifically to shine where we fall short.
Are you hopelessly disorganized? Maybe you’re an artistic right-brain who needs help from a logical left-brain to come up with a plan to organize your closet and possibly the rest of your day.
Feeling overwhelmed by a house project that’s been growing bigger the longer you put it off? Maybe you’re a steady, slow-twitch muscle who needs an assist from a powerful fast-twitch muscle to conquer the problem in record time.
Not sure which plants to put on the side of your house? Maybe you’re an index finger who needs to dial up a green thumb to help you buy the perfect peonies for your soil.
When you’re part of a body, you don’t have to do it all, just a part.
So, if you’re a hand and you’ve got a problem better suited for a heart, go find one!
The heart will be grateful you’re there and will probably need a hand, as it happens.
Don’t waste time wishing you were a hip if you’re a waist, or a shin if you’re an ankle. We need everyone.
And whatever you do, don’t stress. That’s the nerve’s job.
“If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” — 1 Cor 12: 17-20
Meg Matenaer is a wife, mom, social media writer, and author residing in the Diocese of Madison.