THE RIGHT KIND OF SELF-LOVE -- Devotional for July 8, from "Good Seeds"

There should be no division in the body, but rather members should have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (I Corinthians 12:25-26)

The human body is a fascinating organism. It is made up of hundreds of systems and components which, when healthy, run like a well-oiled machine. Actually, that analogy should be reversed: men have invented machines to work with the internal harmony they first observed in the machines designed by God. For example, it was not until we began to understand the function of the eye that we came up with the camera. Highly complex robots have been developed to do the work of 50 men, and yet there is no robot as robust and clever and flexible and intelligent as the one God made -- Adam being the prototype! The Bible writers understood enough about the human body to realize what a perfect model it provides for the church. When Paul said "there must be no division in the body," he didn’t mean no division of labor, for that is certainly necessary for any machine or organism to function. He clarifies his meaning in the very next phrase: “but rather members should have the same care for one another.” This is one of the beautiful “One Anothers” of the Bible. It may appear that one member is more important than another, but appearances can be deceptive. Was it not the malfunctioning of a lowly “o” ring that caused the Challenger spacecraft to explode after take-off, killing all its precious human cargo? Technicians learned a costly lesson, the lesson of this verse, from that experience: “If one member suffers (the lowly “o” ring), all members suffer with it (the noble astronauts).” The church is to be different from worldly organizations, if for no other reason than that it is not a lifeless organization at all, but a living organism. People in law firms and factories and retail businesses can readily become wrapped up in internal disputes, jealousies, and in-fighting, as each looks out primarily for his own welfare and interests. But this must not take place in the church. In fact, it doesn’t belong in a marriage, either – another beautiful picture of the church. In Ephesians 5:28-29 Paul says a husband ought to love his wife, not as a separate entity outside of himself, but because she is part of him – one with him: “Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself – for no one ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it.” Then Paul makes the conclusion: “and that’s how Christ loves the church.” Today’s passage carries the application to yet another level: “And it is with such care that Christians love each other – as if they were a part of each other – because they are!”