A Beautiful Body

Our western culture, unlike many cultures, is very individualistic. The individual is more important than the group. We don’t tend to think that personal happiness and well-being is dependent on group happiness. But this is not the Biblical view, nor the experience of life.

For example, we have heard that the marriage bond is so powerful that my personal happiness will be created or destroyed by my marriage. “He who loves his wife loves himself”, Paul tells us. If I tear down my wife I tear down my own happiness. It’s inevitable.

The Bible speaks of a similar principle with a local church. “…if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:26, 27). Paul would agree with this: You cannot harm an individual in the church without harming the whole. But when each person is valued, body-life is beautiful. It’s inevitable.