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“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 4:16

Being part of a church family means you often hear lessons about doing your part in the “one-another-ness.” We are all expected to offer whatever it is we think we can contribute when it comes to serving and giving to others. The church is one body with many parts, right?

As I have worked with various congregations and small groups over the years, I have noticed an area of vulnerability that many people share when it comes to this aspect of spiritual living. Anyone can carve out time for things like reading scripture and prayer. Giving a percentage of your income is easy enough to calculate. But what about when you are expected to give of your own talents? This is where the lies creep in.

One of the biggest lies people in the church allow themselves to believe is: “I don’t have anything to offer.” It is easy to see the strengths, skills, and contributions of others who serve openly and think, “I can’t do anything like that.” We don’t identify the gifts and talents that come naturally as God-given abilities that can and should be used for His glory.

So how do we combat this lie when it creeps in and keeps us from participating as part of the body? The truth is that we each have specific gifts, skills, and strengths to contribute to the body of Christ. Each member is irreplaceable. I love the New Living Translation of Ephesians 4:16:
“As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

The body cannot grow if each part is not doing its own special work. My prayer is that each of us will boldly claim the God-given skills and strengths we have been given so that His body may grow to be healthy and full of love.

Take a moment to reflect: What are some of your gifts and talents? How can you encourage your Iron Rose Sisters to use their gifts and talents to contribute to the growth of the body?

*Written by Rachel Baker for Iron Rose Sister Ministries blog, June 2020

• celebrate
• weallhaveapart

I confess that when it comes time to read the passages of Scripture that include a genealogy, I do not read all of the words, nor all of the names. Since I cannot pronounce many of the names and I know none of them personally, I see it as a boring facet of Bible ready. Until I pass a name of someone whose story I am familiar with, or I see the name of a woman, for example, I don’t stop to consider the lives of each person listed.

In Matthew’s genealogical account, five women are mentioned (four by name: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Maria, and Bathsheba by reference). But what if any of the men or women listed had not lived his or her life?

Matthew speaks of the fourteen generations between Abraham and David, the fourteen between David and the Babylonian exile, and the fourteen from the exile to Christ. Would we get to Jesus without the life of Nashon, the father of Salmon? What if Eleazar weren’t the father of Matthan? Salmon was Boaz’s father, who we know well from Ruth’s story. Matthan was the father of “and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Mt. 1:16).

Each one of these characters were real people in the Bible story, the Bible history. They lived here on the earth and played their part in the story of Christ. If it were not for each one of them, we would not have the opportunity to know Christ as our Lord and Savior. Each one had their part in what we now celebrate as the greatest story ever told.

Sometimes we wish we could live a big story of great impact. A recent college graduate wants to get a job where she will make a difference and do great things. The preacher wants to prepare awesome sermons that bring many to Christ.

But not everyone has a “big” part. Not everyone can. Not everyone should.
¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? (1 Cor. 12:17-19)

God places every member of the body exactly where He knows they fit best. He chose each person in the genealogy in order that, through them, His Son would come to earth.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (Is. 64:8)

Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (Rom. 9:21)

Thanks be to God, the Potter, for making us part of His body. Thanks be to God for using us as a small part of His big story, especially when we feel that our part is not as grand, impactful, or important as we had hoped. Without your part, God cannot do all of what He wants to do in the body. And without the parts that others play, we cannot fulfill His plan.

We don’t know what God will do with each part, but we will understand later with 20/20 hindsight. Meanwhile, let’s trust Him and celebrate the parts that everyone has in the body!

P.S. Congratulations and Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads who play their part in the kingdom, in our lives, and in God’s body!