The broken and beautiful body of Christ

"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."'
(1 John 3:16-18 ESV)


John wrote these beautiful words centuries ago, but I find they continue to carry weight.  Loving in ones actions speaks to my heart particularly, probably because my love language is Acts of Service.  As Christians, we so often fail at this.  We are gossips, cheats, liars and hypocrites.  We have anger issues and marital problems.  We aren't always kind to our children, our spouses, our friends.  We are cliquish, excluding others who deign to enter our Sunday school classes and Bible studies.  We provoke, persecute, judge and ridicule, and I am the worst offender.  We are by no means perfect.  After all, we are sinners, like everyone else, saved only by the grace of God.

But sometimes, we get it right.  Sometimes we see a need, and we meet it.  We see a sister weeping, and we stop to wipe up her tears.  We love, not only in word, but in deed and truth.  We see a brother who is struggling under the weight of a heavy load, and we come alongside him and bear his burden.  I saw that today, and what I saw was beautiful.

The miracle of what John wrote about above, is that the blessing of loving in deed and in truth extends to all who witness it.  The blessing is not merely limited to the lover or the one receiving the love.  As part of the body, everything that is done, be it good or bad, ripples out and touches all of us.  Today, I saw love and care being given to someone who desperately needed it.  I was so blessed to be there, so that the ripples of God's grace could wash over my soul and refresh me too.  Not only was I blessed by this divine "ripple effect", I was also encouraged to see sisters in Christ caring for one another in time of need.  I've been personally struggling through some spiritual valleys lately, and it was good to be reminded that God's Holy Spirit does still work in the hearts of people who are yielded.  

I'm thankful for the body of Christ.  I'm thankful that even though we're not all in the same place spiritually, we have the Holy Spirit bonding us together in unity as one.  I'm thankful that no matter where on earth I find myself, I know I have a home.  I'm thankful that sometimes, we do get it right.