Finding Our Place in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:13

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Paul teaches that Jesus gave His church these gifts: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers.  He provided these gifts so that the Body of Christ could be prepared to be His perfect bride.  We are all called to learn from the gifted ministers that are placed in our lives.  At some level, we are also called to express the gifts given to us so that we may fulfill our responsibilities in the Body of Christ.

God in His sovereign rule placed each of us exactly where He wants us.  He did not place us where we are to stand alone.  He placed each of us in a place that is linked perfectly with the world around us for the good of the Body of Christ.

Each one of us is called to be both a receptor of light and a beacon of light.  It is our individual responsibility to let God work in us by seeking out and receiving the ministerial gifts offered by the Body of Christ.  It then becomes our responsibility to let God work through us as we become active vessels of His perfect gifts to build up the Body of Christ .

We must continually ask ourselves, "Am I building myself up in Christ?   Am I also building up the Body of Christ?  We will be measuring up to the complete and full standard of Our Savior when we are maturing in Christ as both a student and as a teacher.

Let us be alert to whom God has placed in our lives.  Let us seek out those who can build us up for Christ.  Let us stand ready to use our gifts to build up those around us. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for placing us among family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who, through Your handiwork, will help perfect us in Christ.  We thank You for giving us the opportunity to help perfect them by following the urgings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.   We praise Your name for giving us this magnificent Body of Christ here on earth so that we can learn to measure up to the full and complete standard of Our Savior.  May we live our lives for Your glory and for the good of Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our King and Our Master, Jesus Christ.