Lessons From Your Big Toe!

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ…if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body…God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be…the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;”
1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 26 (NIV UK) 

Recently, my husband dropped a heavy object on his big toe. How important is your big toe? We take our toes for granted and seldom think of them if they are performing their job without trouble and pain. But when we hurt our toe, the pain distracts us from focusing on our work, it keeps us awake at night, causes us worry in case we get infection, changes if and how we walk, affects our balance and, on top of all that, we might need a crutch or cane. Such a little part of the body, and yet so important.

The Bible addresses this in Romans 12:3-5 where Paul writes, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” So, our big toe can teach us humility, service, cooperation and unity.

More body lessons are found in 1 Corinthians 12. We have different gifts and all should be honoured by others and used for service to others (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Verse 11 tells us it is God who determines who is gifted in what way, and verse 7 says they are given for the common good. Then in verses 12-27 he addresses the Church as a body that needs to work together because we need each other. Just like an injury to a big toe, if one part suffers, every part suffers with it. Every one of us is an essential part of the body of Christ, so let’s toe the line and look out for one another!

Prayer
We are fearfully and wonderfully made, Lord, from the hairs on our heads to our big toes. We thank and praise you for the gifts you give us with which to serve one another. No man is an island and we acknowledge that the Church, like our body, needs every part to work effectively. Help us to honour one another and work together in unity.
Amen

Study by Nancy Silcox

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About the Author:
Nancy Silcox attends the Watford Congregation of the Worldwide Church of God UK. Nancy prepares and uploads the Day by Day studies submitted by members of the Worldwide Church of God UK/Grace Communion International.

Local Congregation:
Worldwide Church of God Watford
St. Peter’s Church
61 Westfield Avenue
Watford,
Herts. WD24 7HF

Meeting Time:
Saturday 11AM

Local Congregational Contact:
George Henderson
Phone: 01923-855570
Email: george-sue.henderson@tesco.net