Notes of Faith July 29, 2025
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Before it’s completely forgotten, we should revisit the hymn, “Blest Be the Tie That Binds,” and recover its spirit: “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Before our Father’s throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.”
It’s harder to squabble when you sing and live those lyrics. It’s often hard to live peacefully with all the other members of the Body of Christ. Even Paul and Barnabas had a falling out in Acts 15:36-41. Time and maturity seemed to heal their division, and we need to learn the art of allowing wounds to heal, divisions to dissolve, and hearts to unite.
All Christians are part of the Body of Christ, and it’s healthy to reach out to those who may be in a different category—married or single, young or old, rough or polished, rich or poor. Especially those with a need about which we can pray. After all, “our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.”
We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear.
John Fawcett
1 Corinthians 12:20–25
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 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!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 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, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
As the body of Christ, we must be one! We must support one another, bear one another’s burdens and rejoice in one another’s blessings! This is difficult to implement when we have members at a many levels of spiritual maturity. But the end thought and resulting action should come from being one in Christ! Let us consider others as more important than ourselves and strengthen one another so that the body is strong and useful for the Lord!
Pastor Dale