"Did you ever notice that every time we see the metaphor of the body of Christ in the Bible, it is followed immediately by a discussion about or a reference to love? Look at 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter devoted to a description of agape love. What precedes it? A discussion about the body of Christ and its in-dividual members and functions. Romans 12: 4– 8 is another beautiful passage about the body of Christ. A simple phrase follows in verse 9: “Let love be genuine.” And following a discussion for the reasons for the differing 

offices of apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers, Paul concludes:   Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. —Ephesians 4: 15– 16   The link is there for a reason. Undeniably. Love is to be the natural outflow of the body of Christ, with each member contributing as it should. Of course, for that to happen, individual cells need to be healthy, and we’ll get to a discussion of that later. In Chapter One, we saw that love is to be the defining, dominant characteristic of the body of Christ, the evidence of our discipleship to a world longing for love. What I’d like you to see from a closer inspection of the body of Christ metaphor is that this flow of love isn’t something that’s contrived or forced. Cells within the human body normally experience the give-and-take that is necessary for health and vitality. Likewise, healthy members of the body of Christ will love each other as a natural result of the transformation of God’s Spirit working within them."

Kraus, Harry (2012-08-24). The Cure: The Divine Rx for the Body of Christ--Life-changing Love (pp. 61-62).  . Kindle Edition.


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