Significance

ByJim Stephens

Reading: Corinthians 12; Psalm 143

14 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. 19 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of… (1 Corinthians 12:14, 19 MSG)

God has created us as unique individuals, shaped us by the experiences of our lives, and given us gifts by his Holy Spirit that allow each member of the Body of Christ to have a specific contribution to the whole. That makes us interdependent, not independent! And that means that the Body of Christ is not complete without the contribution each of us makes.

25 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, 26 the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. 27 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. (1 Corinthians 12:25-27 MSG)

Here’s what this means to me:
• We each have eternal significance because God created, formed, and gifted each of us specially and uniquely to have a place and to function effectively in that place. We each belong in Christ’s Body, and there is a place that would be empty without each of us.
• We each have eternal significance because we’ll never be alone in this world or the world to come. We each belong in Christ’s Body, and this makes us forever part of something bigger than we could ever be on our own!

We each have a purpose and we each have a place!

Prayer:

Father, Please help me to be the person you made and intended me to be. Help me to use the gifts you have given me to do my part and to fulfill my potential. Join me to the Body of Christ in the way I will fit best and function best to help the church achieve our God-given purpose.