The Family Of God

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12)

“LORD, LET ME REFLECT YOUR NATURE.” This is a common prayer among those who want to make a difference in this world. It (or something like it) shows up often even in the pages of this book. But when we pray these words, we often think of them in terms of our internal character, our desires and motivations, our spiritual maturity, and the condition of our heart. We tend to forget that the only contexts in which these attributes appear, the only situations in which anyone might see the Spirit and the nature of God working within us, are in our relationships—especially the everyday ones. Our character is noticeable in our interactions with others as we go about our business, but it is especially noticeable in our natural families and in the family of God. We are most observably like Jesus—or not—when we are least aware of the need to be like Jesus.

The attributes of God we tend to value most are social in nature. We praise him for his love, his compassion, his kindness and gentleness, his forgiveness, his patience with us, and so on. We are impressed by things like his majesty and glory, but we aren’t always likely to embrace these attributes for ourselves. But God’s relational attributes—the ways he deals with each of us individually—are the ones we desire to reflect. The problem is that we are most conscious of reflecting them for outsiders to the faith. But our true level of maturity comes out when we display them at home or in fellowship with the body of Christ.

Treasure those relationships as opportunities to demonstrate the nature of God. The world notices how well we love one another, how we handle the normal tensions and frictions of everyday life. Even more important, living with generous spirits toward each other builds up an army of potential influencers. Reflectors of God’s nature brighten other reflectors and shine his light in this world.

{Lord, may I never take for granted the relationships in my natural and spiritual family. There, more than anywhere, let me reflect your nature—to build others up and demonstrate your goodness for all to see. Amen.