Each one of us adds beauty to the Body of Christ

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“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Romans 12:4 New Living Translation

The aspen leaves are falling in the forests of Colorado. Most of the aspen groves that have attracted thousands of souls are losing their leaves. The fall colors don’t last long in the Rockies, but they’re spectacular at their peak. These aspen groves each have their unique colors. Most are yellow and orange, but there are hints of red and pink as well.

Each one of these groves is made up of individual leaves. I was on my belly looking at the leaves that had fallen from the aspen at Lutheran Valley Ranch when this one leaf caught my attention. I separated it from other leaves and posed it like I would a high school senior on a photo shoot. Though different in color and markings from other leaves, this leaf was important.

A grove of aspen trees is beautiful because of the collection of individual leaves. Remove some of the leaves and the forest isn’t as beautiful.

We are God’s forest. The Bible refers to this forest as the Body of Christ. In the same way that each leaf is important to the beauty of the forest, every baptized person is important to Christ’s body.

Too often we determine our importance by what we DO in this body not our STATUS. That’s how life works on this planet. We have value because of what we bring to the table. This is not how Christ’s body works. Our value is in who we’ve been declared to be. We are the children of God because of what Christ has done for us. Your value and my value is not in our doing but in our being.

And because we are in Christ, each one of us adds to the beauty his body.

Text and Picture copyright Douglas P Brauner