We Need Elbows

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5

Sometimes the “edit button” between my brain and mouth doesn’t work. I have many stories of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. With maturity, I’ve gotten better at using self control but I still hear inappropriate words fly out of my mouth willy-nilly.

Once when I was teaching, I stood before an auditorium of students to make an announcement. A fellow teacher had just gotten married, so I congratulated her. I heard myself saying, “Yay for marital sex!”

I saw some shocked faces but mostly just heard the laughter. Then I spied my principal’s face. He was not happy.

Last night I attended my writers’ meeting at Barnes and Noble. I’d never met the speaker and I was quite interested in her topic. In the middle of her speech I was in deep thought about what she was saying and apparently my face showed some confusion. She looked at me, mid-presentation, and said, “You look like you have a question. Your face is wrinkled.”

The “edit button” was broken. I said, “It’s gas.”

My mother used to tell me “Robbie, think before you speak.” She said that a lot.

Last night I heard laughter and I also heard my mother rolling over in her grave.

My personality and my personality defects are all one big, happy package that God wants to prune and use. He loves my humor, I’m sure of it and He probably giggled last night. But sometimes I have a problem reconciling my personality and my desire to be a Godly woman. See, when I picture a Godly gal I envision an impeccably dressed, wise, confident and tactful lady. I don’t see a large woman who interrupts a guest speaker’s presentation with wise cracks about flatulence.

You know what? I AM WRONG. God loves me just like I am. He made me. As I grow in the Lord, I want self control to be a more evident fruit of the Spirit in my life. But I also want to glorify God through the way I am. If you have committed your life to Christ, you are part of His body. And in the body of Christ, I am like the elbow, needed to support and move the arm. I will never be a hand, like Mother Theresa who touched so many. I was not made to be an eye, like Billy Graham who saw straight into peoples’ hearts and identified what they needed. I am an elbow, where the funny bone is located, and I thank God for it. I pray that as you read this you will be encouraged to identify yourself as a precious part of the body of Christ, needed and loved.

Just like you are, “edit button” or not.

This is this week's Joyvotion, a free devo I can send to your email box once a week. Just let me know by emailing me at robbieiobst at hotmail dot com