Knit Together

Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 12 that each member depends on the other. No member is independent of the others. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you.” Even the weakest members can be the ones that are actually the most important.

No member of the human body is more vulnerable or sensitive than the eye. Yet few, if any, are more valuable. Notice how carefully nature has protected the eye all around. The primary function of several other areas of the face is to protect the eye. But the eye gets all that protection and honor not because it is strong, but because it is weak. This is the way the body has been knit together. The strong must protect the weak. We cannot ignore or despise any member of the body of Christ, big or small, strong or weak.

This principle is true of the members of Christ’s body. We need one another; we depend on one another. We must honor one another. When one member suffers, the others suffer with it. When one member is honored, the others are honored with it (see 1 Corinthians 12:26). That is the nature of the universal body of Jesus Christ, the church.