1 Corinthians 12:21-27 Love One Another!

1 Corinthians 12:21-27  The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.  And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.  But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 

The church, the body of Christ on Earth, a visible form of God, represents the God of Eternity.  No other institution made up of men can claim this magnificent reality.  We Christians are ambassadors of God and of his kingdom, performing ambassadorial functions individually and collectively.   As we have already seen, Paul describes us as parts of the body, performing by the Holy Spirit in us.  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  (1 Corinthians 12:4)  Every member of the church, no matter how noble or ignoble its position in the body, has the Holy Spirit.  As Paul instructed the Corinthians, many parts make up the body, and every part should work in unison, harmony, and peace with every other part of the body.  Without the Holy Spirit working freely and openly in every member, we become nothing more than an institution made up of men and women.  The light of God will not be reflected to the world in a body of discord or sin.  Paul told the Colossians to rid themselves of their old lives and to do everything in gratitude: And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  (Colossians 3:17)   We must remember every part of the body of Christ is important; consequently, every part should be active: the hands, the feet, the organs, and so on.  Every part must reflect the attributes of the Holy Spirit.  If any one part believes it is dispensable, not necessary, and decides not to function, the imperfect body will sicken and fail.  Every member must appreciate that the Holy Spirit has given him or her a unique and important responsibility in the church.  When all of the members fulfill their responsibilities in the church and value the other parts, God's light goes forth to the world, and the unsaved understand how to come to the light and win eternal life in this world of sin and death.  People of the world enjoy wearing elite athletes' jerseys, indicating the teams they are on, with their names and numbers on the jerseys.  We who are in the body of Christ, must understand we wear a winner's jersey.  No matter who we are in the body of Christ, no matter where we work in the church, our jersey and number are the same.  We might be cleaning up the restrooms in church, yet we wear that same jersey, with that number, indicating we are winners who have joined forces and identified with THE WINNER.  We might be talking to thousands over television or radio or speaking to one person on a quiet street, but we wear that jersey, that number.  We are all on the same team, with the same blood stained jersey and number.  Christ did it all.  We wear his robe and He is number ONE!  We are those who work for Christ in one body.  

Often the world does not see that we really are on a winning team.  They just see us as a neighbor, a friend, a fellow employee, and the like.  They do not see the jersey we wear.  They consider us as insignificant or unimportant in the events of the world.  Jesus ran into that problem in his hometown.  They saw him as a carpenter, the son of a carpenter.  They did not realize He was on a mission and that the Holy Spirit in him had made him special, God himself.  In his hometown Jesus could not do many miracles.  They would not come to him to be healed, to be comforted, to be fixed.  They rejected the idea that He was the Son of God, representing the miraculous, the heavenly to them.  "Isn’t this the carpenter?  Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.  Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their lack of faith.  (Mark 6:3-6)  Peter and John were considered as men without power by the lame man who asked them to give him something to sustain him for that day.  The lame man received much more than he could have ever dreamed from these two average men.  They represented God in his fulness that day to him, for they gave him strong legs, a powerful surge of strength in his total being.  Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  (Acts 3:6-8)  The lame man did not recognize that these two ordinary men were wearing a jersey that day that had a winning number on the back.  He did not recognize that these two men had miraculous ability within them, the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit that had fallen upon them on the day of Pentecost.  These ordinary, Holy Spirit filled men represented a powerful institution on Earth, known as the body of Christ.  They answered the call of God to function in the body of Christ and to do the Father's will. 

Today, dear friends around the breakfast table, we all wear the same jersey of THE WINNER, JESUS CHRIST.  We all have the number the Holy Spirit has placed on our jerseys when we died to ourselves and came alive in Christ our Savior.  We all are in the same body of Christ.  We all have supernatural powers within us.  None of us can say we are different from the rest of the body or that we do not need the other parts of the body.  We are sons and daughters of the Most High, sitting in heavenly places even now with our Lord, Jesus Christ.  As members of God's mighty body on Earth, we need to be active, energized daily by the Holy Spirit.  None of us should be passive, living without passion, inoperative in the local community of Christ.  Each of us should take up our position in the body, whatever it is: the janitor, the preacher, the cook, the teacher, the greeter, the singer, the helper, and anything else the church needs.  We should understand we are supernatural in the best sense: we have the God of Eternity in our souls, and we have the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide us.  We are not just ordinary people; we are God's people.  We have been set apart as the Levitical priesthood was set apart for God's purposes.  Our inheritance is neither land nor things, but God himself.  He is our portion, and He has chosen us to have the most intimate position in all creation as his sons and daughters in his family.  We have much to offer to the world, the attributes of the Holy Spirit and everlasting life.  Let us not live as Christians in a slovenly manner, without purpose, living life for ourselves.  FOR WE ARE EACH A MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST WITH AN ESSENTIAL PART IN THAT BODY.  If we do not carry out our role in the body, the church will be weak and helpless in a needy and lost world that God loves.  He has chosen you to carry the banner of his love.  He will not write to the world, "I LOVE YOU!" in the clouds from horizon to horizon.  Who would believe it!  They would categorize it as a natural phenomenon of some sort or a hoax by some prankster.  No, my friends, God has written on our hearts and on the collective church's heart: I LOVE YOU.  Let this message be seen by the world in our daily activities, in our actions and reactions, in and out of church.  When Jesus was preparing to go away, He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34-35)   

1 Corinthians 12:13-20 Many Parts, One Body!

1 Corinthians 12:13-20  The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The human body needs every body part to make us a whole, well-functioning being.  If any part is missing or dysfunctional, the human body will not adapt well to its environment.  In the above focus, Paul compares the spiritual body of Christ to our physical bodies.  As the body of Christ, we are made up of many parts as with our human bodies.  No one part can say it is more important than the other parts or does not need the other parts.  Every part of the church of God has a necessary duty; and for the body to function healthily, all  parts must be operating effectively.  If one part is dysfunctional, the whole body will experience disharmony or pain.  Now Paul says that even though the body of Christ is made of many parts, we do not function alone, separate from every other part.  The unifying element that flows through every part is the Holy Spirit who brings harmony and unison to the whole body.  The Holy Spirit's vibrant, energetic power is the key element to every part, to every cell, in the body of Christ.  Without his harmonizing work, we will not illustrate God to the world.  Neither will the church know completely who God is, for the Holy Spirit causes every part of the body of Christ to function at its best, allowing believers to see God in this world through his body, the church of the living God.  We often say that the body of Christ reveals Jesus to the world, but do we realize that through the body, we fully see him at work in the world.  The writer of Hebrews tells believers not to neglect their salvation and reminds them of the Holy Spirit's part in Christ's work: This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.  God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.  (Hebrews 2:3-4) 

Paul clearly explains that the body cannot consist of just one part of the body.  We cannot all be an eye, a nose, a mouth, a heart, and so on.  How can we hear God speak if we are all noses, or all mouths?  No, the voice of God would not be heard.  We would not know the direction that God wants us to walk in if we were just specific parts that could not hear.  We definitely need ears in the body of Christ.  Dad was praying the other day, and he heard these words from the Spirit.  "I have given you words to hear."  He thought that was a strange idea.  What does the Spirit mean when He says, "I have given you words to hear?"   Then he realized, without words, how could we communicate with God?  How would we know what He desires of us?  How could we praise him?  How could we really know his heart?  Now, in heaven, maybe words are not needed.  Maybe language is not needed.  Maybe we can communicate with God without language.  But, here on Earth, we need language to communicate our desires, our thoughts, our hearts.  So, yes, God has given us words to hear.  We do have language, and we do need to hear what God is saying to us.  The body has ears for sure.  Mom sometimes says the Holy Spirits gets her attention by saying, "Listen to me, Jacqueline."  Of course, she has been listening all the time.  But God wants her full attention.  He wants her completely focussed upon him, his will, his voice.  The body also has eyes to see.  We can see the marvelous works of God around us.  We know instinctively that there is a God because of what we see.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  (Romans 1:20)  We have mouths to praise God and to sing.  The entities in heaven sing, the angels sing.  Maybe God sings, for sure Jesus sang a hymn after the Lord's Supper.  God asked Job where he was when God laid the earth's foundations while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?  (Job 38:7)  The body has hands to discover the world and to reach out a healing touch to someone.  The body of Christ has many parts and every part must function well, must have the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit.  Without his presence in every part of the body, the image of God will not be revealed to the world or to us in the Christian community.  

The body of Christ on Earth is in full bloom when the church is completely immersed in the Holy Spirit's power and authority.  When He is in control and flowing through all of the body as with the blood within our biological bodies, He will manifest his characteristics freely in the whole body: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  The Spirit's presence in the body of Christ brings the peaceable fruits of righteousness into our lives and into the church.  When the body is not operating correctly, the church will reveal the acts of the sinful nature:  sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  (Galatians 5:19-21)  Of course, the product of sin is division, disharmony, anger, and the like.  Such attitudes within the body of Christ have caused much separation, even to the point of persecuting and harming others who have different views.  If we who are in the body are to see God as He is, the body of Christ must function well according to his purposes ordained in heaven.  Christians cannot know who God is if only one part of the body is emphasized or honored.  We will not see God if only the hand or the eye is functioning in our church.  We must have all parts of the body of Christ to know God.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  Where would Christ be if we were all one part?  He would be lost in our awareness of who He is in reality.  What Paul is saying, is that we need every part to see God clearly and completely.  No part should take a back seat, believing it is not significant.  The church cannot see God's perfect will and adequately serve him if they are not functioning as a whole body.  They will have a distorted view of God if only a few parts are functioning.  Let us all do our part in the body of Christ, and may we give all the parts the place God intended for them.  When Paul tells the believers in Ephesus about the different callings in the body, he explains that God provided the various giftings to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  (Ephesians 4:12-13)  Amen. 

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 God Gives Gifts!

1 Corinthians 12:7-11  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Christians are alive to God through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus, our only avenue for perfection, makes us righteous, right with God.  We must depend entirely on the work of the cross for our holiness and faultless position before God.  Because of Christ's mighty cleansing work, we are temples of the Holy Spirit.  Rather than merely knowing and discerning life through our natural human senses, Christians experience real life, eternal life, as the abiding Spirit of God leads us into all truth.  The Spirit of God that occupies every born again believer is the breath of God that keeps us alive in Christ.  Our physical breath will cease someday, but our eternal, spiritual breath will go on forever.   Paul says, Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

  (1 Corinthians 3:16)  This Spirit within us changes our perspective of life, the reason we live in this body on this earth.  The Spirit motivates the way we think

 and act.  We change from people walking in the dark under a burden of sin.  John wrote, 

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  (1 John 1:7)   We know we are free from the eternal consequences of sin, and we are free to be his representatives to others on Earth.  In today's focus, we see that God dwells in us individually through his Spirit at the same time He works in the combined church.  We should individually image Jesus in all we do, while remaining aware of the powerful impact of the corporate image of Christ on the world.  As the body of Christ on Earth, we must bear and display the light and love of God.  Christians should show forth the works of God when they are alone and when they gather as the body of Christ.  Paul instructs the Corinthians on the manifestations of the Holy Spirit to the different members of the body of Christ.  Each member has been given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to facilitate the perfection of the body and to allow the body to function as light in this world.  A healthy, Spirit-filled church will reveal God in bright technicolor to a world in darkness and sin, causing a contrast that will lead people to Christ.  

Christians have the Spirit of Christ within them.  Paul made this clear when he wrote, However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.  (Romans 8:9)  The Spirit of God comes to us because of our faith in Jesus Christ and his work.  Jesus made this clear: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,  that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:14-16)  Eternal life comes to us through accepting Christ's sacrifice and receiving the embedding of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The church in Acts learned quickly that faith in Christ brought the Holy Spirit into their midst.  When Peter dealt with Ananias and Sapphira's duplicity, he said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?"  (Acts 5:3)  Peter revealed their lie to the Holy Spirit.  This revelation of the ever-present Spirit of God brought great fear upon the church.  No longer could they choose to be honest with God only in holy places such as the temple; now they must be honest and faithful to God at all times.  Of course, we have had many people since that time openly lie in the church, but that incident, recorded in Acts, revealed that God is always present with us through the abiding Holy Spirit.  Knowing God was with them at all times, Paul and the disciples listened carefully to the Holy Spirit's directions in their lives.  By the leading of the Holy Spirit, Peter went to Cornelius' house; Paul went into Macedonia; Paul and Barnabas were joined together as a team.  Timothy is an example of someone receiving a prophetic word: Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.  (1 Timothy 18-19)  Without the Spirit's guidance, these men of God knew they were lost in their own knowledge and wisdom, which is foolishness to God.  Consequently, they hearkened to the voice of the Spirit, acted according to his direction and help.  We who love Christ should fulfill our responsibilities to God and others by developing a sensitivity to God's authoritative voice, living our lives according to his will and not our own. 

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  In serving God, the Holy Spirit expects us to use our talents or spiritual gifts for the health of the body of Christ.  We do not just to take up a pew; we are to be vibrant, active members of the church.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  If these gifts seem intimidating because they are quite visible or maybe too spiritual for us, we should seek places to use our gifts that are behind the scenes where we feel more comfortable.  Sometimes, people catagorize activities within the body of Christ as important or less important, essential or nonessential.  But Paul indicates that all gifts are important, all are essential to a healthy church.  Paul goes on in this chapter and says this about gifts, On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.  (1 Corinthians 12:22-23)  As with the internal organs of the physical body that we do not see, everything is INDISPENSABLE.  That is also true of the body of Christ.  The people who clean the church, the lavatories and everything else, are essential in a healthy church.  The question is: how do we know our gifts or what the Spirit wants us to do within the body of Christ.  Of course, we all have basic obligations to the church of God: display the fruit of the Spirit, pray for the church, live in harmony, bring people to church, and the like.  However, the gifts are specific to us.  We receive gifts because of our relationship with God and his desire to bless us.  As believers we pray constantly and read the Word, desiring to hear his voice.  We do not seek gifts for recognition but to please God and to serve him and his church.  As this desire increases, we will become aware of the gifts we have.  If you are a teacher, the Word will burn in your heart as you want to share what God tells you.  If you have the gift of healing, you will desire to pray for the sick.  With the gift of wisdom or knowledge, you may want to help in administration or with encouragement.  Your gift will bring peace and harmony as it reinforces scripture and the image of Christ to others.  It should not bring discord or division to the church.  Walking by faith as a servant is not always easy.  Sometimes you will want more help from others, but remember to seek the Lord for strength and courage.  Jesus said: when the servant comes into the house from working in the field, tired and dirty from the day's work, the servant does not go to his quarters and rest, he goes to the master and asks him if there is anything else he should do.  With such an attitude, we will continue to work for the Master.  

     

1 Corinthians 12:1-6 One Body, One Lord!

1 Corinthians 12:1-6  Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.  You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.  Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 

Paul prefaces his teaching on spiritual gifts in the body of Christ by indicating God is one God and there are no other gods.  He tells the Corinthians that once they were under the domain of the demonic world when they worshipped mute idols.  These idols and the spirits that inhabited their worship were not of God nor of the heavenly realm.  Those who lifted up these gods or idols led people astray with their words, making the worshippers slaves to the false gods and to the world.  But Paul presents Jesus Christ, the valid God, the true Lord, the one who separates people from sin and slavery to this wicked world.  People can know him only through the guidance of the Holy Spirit who penetrates man's heart, revealing the one true God and Father of us all and his Son, Jesus.  No other spirit can point us to the living God.  Only by the guidance of the Spirit of God can we say with an honest and believing heart that Jesus is Lord.  Only by the Spirit can we make the confession of faith Peter made in answer to Jesus: But what about you?” he (Jesus) asked. “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  (Matthew 16:15-17)  And, as Paul remarks, if the Spirit of God rests in you and is speaking through you, you will not speak anything negative about Jesus Christ such as, Jesus be cursed.  With this understanding that the Spirit elevates Christ and his teaching in our lives, Paul can now address the gifts God places in the body of Christ, gifts that work for the benefit of Christ and his revelation of God to the church.  Paul emphasizes the oneness of God and the purpose of the Holy Spirit within the church by stating, There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  The Spirit removes divisions within the functioning body of Christ as He speaks with one voice to the brothers and sisters, encouraging the whole church to walk in Christ's love and to reveal Christ.  All the different kinds of gifts and different kinds of service are for that one purpose, to edify the church and to display to the world the working of God and his love for people. 

We can better understand the body of Christ by considering our human bodies that are made up of many wonderful parts.  The various parts in our biological bodies must function harmoniously to ensure good health: the brain, the circulation, the digestive system, all the major organs, and so on.  When we take in food, the nutrients in the food must move from one part of the body to all the other areas.  If anything breaks down in the total system, if nutrients are denied to a part of the body, that part will become unhealthy, and disease might eventually harm the whole body.  Similarly, in the body of Christ, this process of disease also can happen in one small area and spread elsewhere.  When Paul asks the Galatians how they have been led away from the truth of the gospel, he says they should know that, “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”  (Galatians 5:9)   If any one of us is not functioning appropriately, the purpose of the body of Christ on Earth will be harmed; God and his glory will not be revealed effectively to people.  When the body malfunctions, the world sees a distorted view of God, and the gospel might not go forward because Christians failed to function well.  Consequently, the church should be healthy by allowing the Holy Spirit to work freely.  Each member must understand he or she is an integral part of the body of Christ on Earth.  The responsibility of having a healthy church as a true testimony of God and his love rests at the feet of each Christian in the body of Christ.  If we fail to take our responsibility in the body of Christ seriously, his gifts will not flow through us.  If we function without faith, believing others should carry us, the church will lack our unique contributions.  Rather than being active members of a local community of believers, we become consumers of religion, always testing the temperature of churches, whether they meet our test of spirituality.  Consumer Christianity is somewhat like picking out a grocery store where you like to shop.  We are not consumers but active members of our local Christian communities, bringing our part of Christ to the church, displaying God's love to all people, supporting activities of the church, providing our necessary part to the body as a whole.  A little later in this letter, we will see that Paul tells the church that no part of the body is more important than another, and each part needs the others.  He states this important reality: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  (1 Corinthians 12:27)

If we do not gather together with other believers in community, the things of the world can easily deceive us.  We might never grow into the maturity God desires for us as his dearly beloved children.  The Bible says, to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. . .  It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  (Ephesians 4:7, 11-16)  When believers come together, we should come with the fruit of the Spirit evident in our lives.  We should be loving, joyful, peaceable, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled, believing the best in others, rather than criticizing and finding fault with others.  We should desire to fulfill our responsibility to the church, laying down our need for recognition and praise.  We should fit in as servants, not as rulers and controllers.  Our place should be one of humility and praise to God.  All of these characteristics reflect our Lord, and of course his reflection in us will be displayed through the body of Christ.  When our lives reflect the Holy Spirit living in us and we know Christ as Lord, our actions will reveal God in a healthy way to the world.  As we have said in previous breakfasts, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  When the body of Christ is healthy, people will understand that Christ died for them.  As the spiritual gifts operate in the body, individuals will know the love of God has come to them.  This love will transform their lives and also our lives as we work for the Lord.  We will attain maturity in the Lord, building ourselves up in love.