The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:21-27
I have recently come to find out that I had trouble honestly believing this scripture. I always knew what it said, and would tell others about it, but sometimes it was hard for me to believe it about myself. You know those moments, right? Where you look around and you question if you make a difference. If you are necessary. You look around and see others that seem more than capable, but doubt your capability. Maybe you haven’t questioned yourself, but I have. I have sat in class recently questioning. Do I really make a difference? Am I valuable to this group? Would they function fine without me? It hasn’t been a huge battle or stumbling block for me, just something that has crossed my mind. Recently the Lord showed me that every part of the body is important.
Well, let’s just say my pinky had a run in with the meat slicer at the deli I work at. Yep, the pinky on my left hand. What I would have thought to be one of the most useless parts of my body. To make the situation better, I cut it on the top knuckle.
An ER visit and two stitches later I was wrapped up and on my way home. I thought it was going to be no big deal. It’s my pinky. How important is my left pinky?
Well, it turns out it plays a much bigger role than I thought. Since the cut was on the knuckle I had to wear a splint, making it hard to grab things. You know, like a cup of water, the shampoo, the steering wheel. Showering seemed impossible. Since I couldn’t get the stitches wet for 3 days I had to shower with my hand in a bag. Not only does my left hand have stitches, it’s splinted, and has a plastic bag taped to it. Everything about showering was difficult. I was SO frustrated that I stopped and asked the Lord what the heck he was teaching me through this.
“Everybody part is important, Sara. When one isn’t working right, the body doesn’t function the way it should. No matter how big or small of the body part.”
Okay Lord, I get it.
This injury has taught me so much about how important every part of the body plays a huge role. It has encouraged me to remember how valued I am to the body, even when I feel like a “useless” pinky.
