FOR THE COMMON GOOD!
FOR THE COMMON GOOD!
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose… Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. —I Corinthians 12:7, 18, 27
God’s Holy Spirit is manifested in each believer by “the fruit of the Spirit” and by the gifts of His Holy Spirit. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s life is for the common God of His Body, the Church. He has arranged you in the body and placed you where you are (Acts 17:26) and gave you the gift(s) that He chose for you. All of this is for the common God of His Body, the Church.
We are individual members of His body, but that doesn’t mean we are to act independent of His body, the Church… but do we? Listen to what God says— “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:4-5). Is this how we think?
Look down at your hand. It is your hand because it is part of your body. Now look at a brother or sister. Do you see them as a member of the same body you are in, the Church? According to this passage they are! How do I treat my hand? How do I treat my brother or sister?
God has placed you in His body as a member of it and He has placed all other believers into His body as members of it. “each member belongs to all the others.” Is this how we think? I can say from hearing other people speak that it is not. Here is what one person said to my wife one time. Elaine was at a women’s meeting and they were introducing themselves and mentioning where they “went to church.” Elaine mentioned where she went and one of the women responded, “Oh, you go to that tiny thing?” Wow, what a misunderstanding of what the Body of Christ is.
God’s Holy Spirit is active in any local church of Christ followers as He is accomplishing what He desires. Not only are the gifts given for the “common good” of a “local church,” but also of the universal church. Let me ask you this question— How many bodies of Christ does He have? Only one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zEiiZi2DKk
Dear Father You have placed me where You want me. May I faithfully manifest Your Holy Spirit as He works through the giftedness He has gifted me with. May this be for Your honor and glory and for the benefit of others. Yes, may this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus.