10 31 07 One Another’s II The Whole Body Aches


“Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member; so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another. If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it.”
(1 Corinthians 12:24-26 NET)

I don’t have to remind anyone of the last flu bug they battled: headache, back ache, joint pain, chest pain, THE WHOLE BODY ACHED! How good it feels to be relieved of that pain as well, when the entire body can finally rest! What a great metaphor as to the suffering we go through as a body of believers!

Some members are weaker than the others, like within our bodies. They need more attention. Some of us suffer from arthritis in certain parts of our body (knees, shoulders, ankles or wrists). We pay more attention to those areas with hot ointments, cold ice packs, or even a pain reducing medication of some sort. The point is, we make an almost daily attempt to ease the pain of that part of the body, or it can hinder the entire day’s work. If we as a Body of Christ ignore the heartaches within our congregations, choose not to seek out the families struggling to stay together, or rely upon the government to care for victims of natural disasters, economic upheavals, or chronic illnesses and disease, then eventually we as a Body will suffer and our work for Christ will be hindered! THE WHOLE BODY SHOULD ACHE when people within our sphere of influence are hurting!

Just as we celebrate when we experience success, we need to rally around those in need. We need to feel the pain of brothers and sisters in Africa as they die of genocide, are murdered tribal wars and suffer malnutrition as a result of drought and negligence. We need to come to the aid of believers in India caring for orphaned children. We need to assist the Body everywhere as we hear of a need and supply those working there with needed material and needed intercessory prayers. Most importantly, we need to personally care for those in our own neighborhoods, in our own church house, which we know are suffering, yet we give a casual and uncaring “I’ll pray for you”. THE WHOLE BODY ACHES when we know of suffering and ignore it! Imagine going a day or a week with the pain of a broken limb and not seeing a doctor, not having any pain medication, no support of a bandage or wrap! Ouch!

The pain we’re suffering within the Body can be easily lessened if we would only take it personally! As we individually take it upon ourselves to care as much as we can when we see and hear of suffering, we can feel the fever go down, the inflammation cease, and the throbbing pain subside. We can rest in His peace, knowing we’ve done all we can to support the family members and even those outside the camp. We have stopped the bleeding, cared for the wounds, and begun to heal any scarring; and we have honored our Father! So the next time we see or feel an ACHE IN THE BODY lets be sure to care for it before it gets more serious than necessary! Let’s not wait to be told to do so, let’s do what we can do now!