“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ….But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be….so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-25 NIV

In Chapter 12 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he adeptly describes what the church is, and how it should function. Just imagine someone’s ear refusing to cooperate with his eye, or his hand refusing to cooperate with his foot! In likening each church member to a part of a physical body, it becomes clear that competition, envy, and division only serve to weaken the whole, and cause it to malfunction. This principle applies, not only within each local church, but between denominations: We’re all one body. Paul further makes it clear that although there are many members in the body, there is only one Head, and He is Christ, our Lord. 

Dear Lord, Please allow your church to see itself as you intended. Help us to view all believers, and the gifts you’ve instilled in each of us, as precious and needed contributions to the whole. Bible-based unity is not the work of human uniformity, assimilation, or domination, but it’s the work the Holy Spirit– as we all submit to Him. In Jesus’ Name, we pray.

For further study: 
1 Corinthians 1:10; 3:3, 12:13
Romans 12:5-8; 16
2 Corinthians 13:11