Had a strange dream last night and woke up with thoughts of custom clothing. I was trying to fit into something that wasn’t made for me.
Buying dresses, and most clothing for that matter, is a nightmare for anyone who is not of average shape or size. I am 5’ tall, with wide hips, a big booty and a small waist. I have a very short torso but large breasts and broad shoulders. I also have a soft pot belly from having three kids and gaining and losing weight rapidly. It takes me hours of shopping and trying on dozens of items to find one thing that fits.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and tried to cover their shame with fig leaves it was God who came, in mercy and love, and made them custom garments of animal skins to cover their nakedness.
Our robe of righteousness from Christ isn’t just one size fits all. He custom makes our lives to fit us. He custom makes our garments. Our gifts and callings. Our family and friends. Even our joys and hardships. I look at my husband and kids and can see how He made them just for me. And He made me just for them.
When Jesus performed healings and miracles he dealt with each individual in different ways, with just what they needed. To one he says “Take up your bed and walk.” To another he says “Stretch out your hand.”
There is a saying that comparison is the thief of joy. It is so true in every aspect of life, both the physical and the spiritual. We look at our neighbors and think, “I am poor.” But if you are reading this on any kind of technological device you are not poor. You might be broke, but by world standards you are not poor. We look at people in ministry and think, “I am not spiritual.” But if you have the Spirit of God living in you then you are spiritual. You might look at the people in your church who seem to have it all together and think, “I’m not good enough.” News flash! Aside from Jesus Christ not a single human on the planet is “good enough.”
In 1 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul has a great analogy! We are all one body by the Spirit in Christ, but we are not all the same body part! The foot can’t say “because I’m not a hand I’m not part of the body.” Also, the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” I think we are all interconnected in this amazing way and we just don’t take the time to understand who we are and how the body works. When we pray for persecuted believers in the world it’s like we are the knobby knees supporting the beaten back. When we give to the causes of things like Breath of Heaven Children’s Village in Zambia we are the hands putting soothing balm on the cracked, dry feet.
I want to challenge you today to take a couple minutes here, read all of 1 Corinthians 12 and pray. Ask God what His custom calling on your life is. What part of the body are you? What spiritual gifts has He custom tailored to fit your life? You are part of the body, you need the body and the body needs you!
1 Corinthians 12
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and here are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
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. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 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.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. 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.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Thanks for reading! Comment and share if you’ve been encouraged.
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