Reflection: Blessed through serving

How can my church community be strong, united and mature in our faith?

When we serve each other well, with the gifts God has given us, we will together be strengthened. We will be unified in our faith in God, and in our knowledge of Jesus. We will become mature in our faith together.

The imagery Paul uses in his letter to the Ephesian Christians reminds me of my first experiences of swimming at the beach as a child and realising the power of the waves; they knocked me over, pulled me under, and changed my direction beyond my control. Paul also uses the imagery of a strong wind that can blow us around, to illustrate how different kinds of teaching can ‘blow us here and there’ as ‘cunning and crafty’ people scheme to deceive us. These are the dangers we will avoid if we are serving each other in unity, with the gifts God has blessed us with.

As we serve one another, we will become a strong and mature body.

I love to run, though I am no athlete! To be a strong and injury free runner, I have found that I need to stretch and strengthen the muscles that I use — all of them. My legs, my back, my core muscles. The stronger they are, the stronger my body is and the better I can run (without being hurt!). This helps me to understand and visualise Paul’s ‘body’ analogy as it applies to the church; if each member is using their gifts to serve, we will together, as a body, become stronger … and less prone to ‘injury’!

The imagery Paul uses is beautiful and encouraging, as from Christ, our Head, we are ‘joined and held together by every supporting ligament’ and together we grow and build ourselves up in love, as each part does its work.’

I have found that I feel joy, connection and contentment when I am serving God and his people using my gifts, as well as connected and strengthened in my relationship with him. What has been your experience in serving the body of Christ? How has considering these Scriptures challenged or encouraged you?

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you that we need not be vulnerable to the ‘waves’ and ‘strong winds’ of life as Christians. Please help me to truly belong to my church community, to be an active and serving member of the body of Christ, so that I (and those I am unified with) may become strong and mature, connected to Jesus. Amen.