Be kind

NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT!

I'm a physical therapist, so I have a thing for muscles and bones and how people move.  I know.  I'm a nerd.  Humor me for a minute.

I often have patients that come to me saying there's something wrong with their arm.  They can't use it to lift a plate into the cupboard or pick up their child.   After I complete my assessment, I often arrive at the conclusion that the problem isn't the arm itself, but rather, the shoulder.  More often than not, they have a perfectly normal/healthy arm and a perfectly normal/healthy trunk.  But the shoulder, the place where the arm and the trunk meet, this connecting point, often has some dysfunction that renders the arm nearly useless.

I think Paul, the writer of many books in the Bible, might have been a bit of a nerd himself.  In 1 Corinthians 12:12  he writes, "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ."

He goes on to explain why it's important that we're different. "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?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you", nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you"....But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." (1 Cor. 12:17-21,24b-26)


This has been on my mind lately.  It's really easy to look at other people who function a little differently than we do and wish they were more like us.  Or to look at someone who functions NOTHING like we do and think we really have no need for them.  And sometimes those thoughts lead to us treating each other as if their differences somehow make them less important than us, or make them unneeded in the body. 

I read this this morning and I found it fascinating.

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself  up in love."  Ephesians 4:15-16

Joint:  The place at which two things, or separate parts of one thing, are joined or united, either rigidly or in such a way as to permit motion.  (Definition from dictionary.com) 

Do you see this???

The joint.  The place where two things meet or come together.  THAT is what holds the body together!  That is what ensures each part is working properly.

Are you a perfectly healthy arm?  WONDERFUL!  Do you realize that if the place where you come together, interact and intersect with other members of your body is dysfunctional, it doesn't matter how amazing you are at being an arm? You will find yourself hanging lifeless. 

For my patients with shoulder problems, if the place where the arm connects to the body is not healthy, even simple activities like putting on a coat can be painful and time consuming and frustrating. 
 
We, I, spend far too much time judging and analyzing and comparing members of the body.

STOP IT!

We take bites out of each other unaware that we are only devouring ourselves.

"If one member suffers, all suffer together..."

Stop nitpicking everything about everyone.  Stop staring at everyone else's imperfections while glancing at your own.  Stop arrogantly thinking you can make it in this world on your own.  You can't.  So STOP!

Be kind.

Just think of how fast and far we could run if the foot met the leg with encouragement, respect, and truth in love. 

Oh the places we could go..... 

"If one member is honored, all rejoice together..."

 

 

Are you hobbling through life with a perfectly good leg unaware that you've crippled yourself at your knee and ankle?

          Go now.  Forgive.  Ask for forgiveness.
          Be kind.

Is there someone in your life who needs your encouragement today?  Your respect? 

          Tell them!  Show them! 
          Be kind.

I love how Paul finishes his thoughts in Ephesians 4:32
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Now come on body, let's get moving!!