Jigsaw puzzles. Chances are you really like doing them or you really don’t! In either scenario, we can appreciate that each piece in a puzzle is completely unique and has its place in the overall picture. And so it is with the body of Christ. The body of Christ is made up of many different members, each a necessary part, each with a diversity of gifts and talents. These members are called Christians.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the body of Christ, the church, to a human body—“The body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (verses 14-16,18).

We are often tempted to believe that the gifts or abilities we have are not worthwhile or that someone else’s are greater. Remember then those words of Paul. It means that the gifts you have been blessed with are suited perfectly for you and for the benefit of the holy Christian church, the whole body of Christ. What a beautiful picture that is!