Body Life in the Christian Church Community

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When believers are living in accordance with God's design for the Body, exercising their spiritual gifts and living out the "one another" passages of the New Testament, they are spurred on to even greater love and good deeds. That is because the best motivating factors in life, --love and grace, -- flourish in this kind of atmosphere. When competition, tangible incentives and rewards, and pep talks abound, people may seem to be motivated for a time but it soon dies out. However, when people "serve one another in love" (Gal. 5:13) and when everybody does their part, the body "builds itself up in love" (Eph. 4:16) and people find themselves in it for the long haul motivated to do more.

The source of true love and grace: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 Jn. 4:10). "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Cor. 5:14).
 

The effects of His love and grace: No matter who you are or what you have done, the conclusion of the Apostle Paul applies. "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them -- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me" (1 Cor. 15:10). "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8).
 

The motivating factor of God's love and grace: "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us" (1 Jn. 4:16-18).
 

The means God uses to demonstrate His love and grace subsequent to salvation: "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms" (1 Pet. 4:10). --Believers are God's instruments.
 

The reason love and grace are so motivating: The more we realize who we are and what we have in Christ because of His love and grace, the more secure we feel. The more secure we feel, the more we can look beyond ourselves. When believers demonstrate the love of Christ and dispense His grace toward one another, it helps reaffirm what we have in Him.

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us to "consider how" we can spur one another on. In other words, don't assume that just because we are believers that we will automatically demonstrate God's love and grace to one another. We must plan for it to happen -- "consider how." Following are some suggestions.

• As Hebrews 10:25 says, "do not give up meeting together." In our busy society we seem to spend less and less time with the Body of Christ. If we do not have contact with each other, we certainly will not be demonstrating His love and grace toward one another.
• Hebrews 10:25 also tells us to remember that Jesus is coming again. Do not put off spending time, encouraging, serving, and relating until later. You may not have tomorrow. Don't waste time in things that will not count for eternity. Do what really matters.
• Show appreciation for what love and good deeds fellow believers are doing. The Apostle Paul was constantly commending the readers of his letters for their love and good deeds.