We Are All Connected

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Read Romans 12:3-8
Theme: Christian Relationships and Attitudes
Title in NIV: Gifts in the body of Christ

Verse three says to think of your self with sober judgment. What does that mean to you? Sober means not drunk, of course, but also not extreme in any way, serious, not flashy, characterized by reason, sanity and self-control. My favorite is showing emotional balance. If you think of yourself soberly, you do not think of yourself higher than you ought. Think about the opposite. Being intoxicated makes you appear too silly, or too serious, or too defensive. It causes you to be unbalanced. Face it, when you are intoxicated, nothing ever turns out right.

Verse three also says that God gives is a measure of faith. Does God give some more faith than others? I don't know the answer to that questions. It seems unfair to give some more and some less, but I do believe God allows our faith to increase with every situation, if we choose to grow.

In Christ we who are many form one body. What body do we form? Christ's body. We are all part of Christ body therefore, part of Christ lives in us (the Holy Spirit). If the Holy Spirit lives in many and the Holy Spirit is One, than we can say we are all part of each other in Christ no matter where we live in the world. John 14 says the Father will give you a Counselor, the spirit of truth...in you.

I see this like a puzzle. When you dump a puzzle from the box, some pieces are colorful and some pieces are brown like cardboard. When you flip the cardboard pieces over (receiving the Holy Spirit) they become colorful, too. Before putting the puzzle together, the pieces are separate. The pieces may be touching each other, but when the puzzle is put together, complete, all the pieces FIT together. We can achieve this kind of connectiveness (is that a word) through our Lord and Savior.

Just like the puzzle, we all have different functions. Some pieces are straight, some have holes and some have the nobs. Some fit on the outer edge, some fit in the middle. Each piece belongs to all the others. We can't take a piece from another puzzle (Satan) and make it fit.

In Christ, some prophesy, some serve, teach, encourage, contribute to others, some lead and some show mercy. Just like the puzzle, some are edges and some are middle pieces. We all function independently, and we all have a different job, but we are all connected.

What happens if one piece of the puzzle is lost? The whole picture looks unfinished and incomplete. What happens if one piece is mistreated? The whole picture is not smooth. It has wrinkles or bent edges or torn places. We need to protect other pieces (members) from damage just as much as we need to protect our self from damage.

 We are all connected. If you think of it that way, you might be nicer to a family member or a friend who has hurt you or nicer to someone who just rubs you the wrong way. Try to smooth some pieces that have been damaged. Try to find some pieces that have been lost. Above all, try to flip pieces by telling them about Jesus and what He has done for them. They have a place in the puzzle, too.