Intro: There are going to be a few blog posts on this subject. I could do one post but it would be extremely long and you know how things can get lost in translation. I have written and spoke about the blog post I am about to write a few times. There are always those insights and Word the Lord gives you that never grows old- and He wants you to continue to use it. I did feel that it should be written about again. It will not be the same exact words as the blog I had written before on was, well, deleted. Then when I spoke about it, I did not have it written down. Yet, it is the same insight the Lord had given me.
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'For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free----and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.' ~1Corinthians 12:12-14[NKJV]
Did you ever look in the mirror and study yourself? Head to toe? I have. Immediately, yes immediately, I will start to pick out everything I do not like about myself, my body. 'My arms are flabby, my waistline is too big, my hips and thighs are too big, what is that mark on my face?, oh I see wrinkles and oh my goodness there's gray hair!' I could go on forever. Couldn't you? If you have never done this, please, seriously....go and do it. Then come back and we'll move on. I will pause and wait till you return.
How about a desire to belong? Have you ever had that? I have. I had quite the childhood and felt quite out of place where I was- I did not feel I belonged anywhere. I remember in school, the desire to belong somewhere with a group of girlfriends. I would turn into someone I was not just to be liked and when that did not work and/or I was exhausted from acting, I would crumble down in a corner and cry. 'Why do I feel the need to belong? Why does insert name(s) here not want to be my friend? Why can't I just fit in as myself?'
Have you ever been picked on because you looked different? Lived differently? Different culture? How about a different family dynamic? I grew up in a time when divorce was not so prevalent and Dad's did not raise their kids. Guess what? I am from a divorced home being raised by my Dad. I only got to see my Mom on the weekends and then the summer. I did not have the 'Mom' influence in my life. We had no money and I wore a lot of clothes that were more to the male gender side. I have to give my Dad grace, he was raising a girl and he was a man-- and it was during a time in our culture that did not happen. So I looked different. I lived different. I had a different family dynamic than most. I did not belong. I could not relate.
Like most women, I would love to get rid of the parts of my body I do not like-- the bigger or wrinkled parts--I tried everything to get rid of things I just cannot seem to get rid of--- or hide them! Put make up on them- concealer. The wrinkle cream regimen -- you are getting it.
Now...............
First I would like to encourage you and say, Jesus has made you a part of something big, wait, I should put that in CAPS---- BIG! HUGE! MAGNIFICENT! He loves your wrinkled, too big, imperfect body. He is pulling you into the Body of Christ and you belong. YOU BELONG! You, the square peg trying to fit into the round hole--- you have a place within the Body of Christ- there's a square hole for you. You, yes you, who look different, come from a not so great family dynamic.....maybe a place of violence, neglect, a lot of hurt and pain. Maybe from an addiction. A crazy home life....anything..........He has brought you into His Body.
Second, I would like to get you, my Christian Sisters,thinking about this: Have you ignored parts of the Body of Christ? Have you pushed them aside and pretended like that do not exist? Have you looked at them and picked out things about them that you do not like (reasons to dislike them)? Have you made them feel different? Unwanted? Have you tried to cover them up? Have you moved yourself away from them? Have you ever tried to or though of dismembering them?
Let's look at that Scripture again:
'For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free----and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.' ~1Corinthians 12:12-14[NKJV]
Pray and seek the Lord on this subject. I have needed to repent. I still find myself sometimes in the mode of picking out things I do not like about a Christian Brother or Sister or reasons to dismember myself from them. The Lord is good and will forgive you and me.
The Lord wants us to belong to Him and His Body and He desires for us all to function together--- well. Let's start here. Encourage a Sister in Christ, include the one you have previously decided you do not like- invite her out for coffee or a movie. Befriend the different, the square peg, the unwanted. Be like Christ.
Part 2 coming soon!
___________________________________________________
'For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free----and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.' ~1Corinthians 12:12-14[NKJV]
Did you ever look in the mirror and study yourself? Head to toe? I have. Immediately, yes immediately, I will start to pick out everything I do not like about myself, my body. 'My arms are flabby, my waistline is too big, my hips and thighs are too big, what is that mark on my face?, oh I see wrinkles and oh my goodness there's gray hair!' I could go on forever. Couldn't you? If you have never done this, please, seriously....go and do it. Then come back and we'll move on. I will pause and wait till you return.
How about a desire to belong? Have you ever had that? I have. I had quite the childhood and felt quite out of place where I was- I did not feel I belonged anywhere. I remember in school, the desire to belong somewhere with a group of girlfriends. I would turn into someone I was not just to be liked and when that did not work and/or I was exhausted from acting, I would crumble down in a corner and cry. 'Why do I feel the need to belong? Why does insert name(s) here not want to be my friend? Why can't I just fit in as myself?'
Have you ever been picked on because you looked different? Lived differently? Different culture? How about a different family dynamic? I grew up in a time when divorce was not so prevalent and Dad's did not raise their kids. Guess what? I am from a divorced home being raised by my Dad. I only got to see my Mom on the weekends and then the summer. I did not have the 'Mom' influence in my life. We had no money and I wore a lot of clothes that were more to the male gender side. I have to give my Dad grace, he was raising a girl and he was a man-- and it was during a time in our culture that did not happen. So I looked different. I lived different. I had a different family dynamic than most. I did not belong. I could not relate.
Like most women, I would love to get rid of the parts of my body I do not like-- the bigger or wrinkled parts--I tried everything to get rid of things I just cannot seem to get rid of--- or hide them! Put make up on them- concealer. The wrinkle cream regimen -- you are getting it.
Now...............
First I would like to encourage you and say, Jesus has made you a part of something big, wait, I should put that in CAPS---- BIG! HUGE! MAGNIFICENT! He loves your wrinkled, too big, imperfect body. He is pulling you into the Body of Christ and you belong. YOU BELONG! You, the square peg trying to fit into the round hole--- you have a place within the Body of Christ- there's a square hole for you. You, yes you, who look different, come from a not so great family dynamic.....maybe a place of violence, neglect, a lot of hurt and pain. Maybe from an addiction. A crazy home life....anything..........He has brought you into His Body.
Second, I would like to get you, my Christian Sisters,thinking about this: Have you ignored parts of the Body of Christ? Have you pushed them aside and pretended like that do not exist? Have you looked at them and picked out things about them that you do not like (reasons to dislike them)? Have you made them feel different? Unwanted? Have you tried to cover them up? Have you moved yourself away from them? Have you ever tried to or though of dismembering them?
Let's look at that Scripture again:
'For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free----and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.' ~1Corinthians 12:12-14[NKJV]
Pray and seek the Lord on this subject. I have needed to repent. I still find myself sometimes in the mode of picking out things I do not like about a Christian Brother or Sister or reasons to dismember myself from them. The Lord is good and will forgive you and me.
The Lord wants us to belong to Him and His Body and He desires for us all to function together--- well. Let's start here. Encourage a Sister in Christ, include the one you have previously decided you do not like- invite her out for coffee or a movie. Befriend the different, the square peg, the unwanted. Be like Christ.
Part 2 coming soon!
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