Suits
In a few weeks’ time our eldest son is getting married. We are all very excited about the big day and can’t wait to celebrate this wedding with family and friends.
One of the things he wanted was for his groomsmen to have matching suits. The interesting thing is, that this group of young men are a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
Some are well over six foot tall and skinny, while others (the personal trainers), are shorter and with toned, bulging muscles! He had to pick a suit that came in a wide selection of sizes.
It’s been quite a formidable task to get the suits for all of them, including lots of online deliveries, visiting the high street shop in different locations and getting some suits adjusted. All shall be sorted by the day of the wedding!
This rather stressful suit buying reminded me how different ‘bodies’ are. One size really does not fit all. Whilst pondering this, I read again the absolutely brilliant ‘body’ illustration used by Paul in the Bible. In his first letter to the Christians in Corinth he wrote…
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
This is such a good illustration, as I think you can ‘get it’ straight away! The body is a complete unit, and yet it is made of a variety of parts, both external and internal! Only together does it function.
Paul wanted his readers to see that though different, together, they are all part of the body of Christ, the church. The same is true today! Here are three things to think about:
Don’t compare yourself to other people. When we do this, we tend to see ourselves in a negative way.
Celebrate you! God made you in a certain way. You are one of a kind, inside and out. Enjoy being you and the way you are.
Remember that you are part of the body of Christ. Do all you can to find your place, a then to play your part. By doing this, the body will work as God intended it!
God bless you :)
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader