In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul is talking about spiritual gifts and how many different gifts are used to keep a body of believers loving and living. He goes on to say that more important than the giftings we receive from God is the fact that we love one another. He writes in v.31, I will show you a still more excellent way…and then goes directly into a chapter often that is often chopped out of context to talk about exclusively about love (1 Corinthians 13).
What he is saying, in context, is that love is the most desirable and most special gift of all, the gift of being able to love others more than yourself, to love sacrificially, to love as Christ loves us.
Part of his explanation of gifts and how we all need one another’s gifts is this statement,
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthians 12.26
At the core, Paul is teaching that we are to value others, have no division with others, to love others. We are to have compassion on others, work hard to understand others, be there for others, serve others, to love others. In another letter he writes that we are to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6.2). Our ‘others‘ focus’ as believers should move us to take action when others are suffering or struggling.
This kind of command in-principle isn’t particularly complicated, is it? Look around, who is suffering, who is struggling, who is carrying a heavy load, who has a need (Luke 10.36-37), for whom can you stand in the gap?
Today one of our church family is undergoing a very serious surgery. We have called for a 24 hour church-wide prayer and fasting-from-food for those that are able.
We want to show this family that we love them, that we are here for them, we want to show them that we believe in the truth that if one member suffers, all suffer together. We want to bear one another’s burdens.
If you are reading this and you are part of our Saar Fellowship family and are able, we would love you to join us as we fast from Tuesday evening to Wednesday evening and pray.
If you are somewhere else in the world, we would be honoured if you would join us too and pray for this family, for their children, for the doctors and nurses involved, for the whole process.
If you would like to send a message of support or prayer for this family, or for their 3 young children, you can email it to me at james@saarfellowship.com or send it to us via Instagram at @saarfellowship.
