17. READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-27
[1 Corinthians 12:12] "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. [13] For we were all baptized by [or, "with," or, "in"] One Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the One Spirit to drink.
[14] "Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [15] If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? [18] But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. [19] If they were all one part, where would the body be? [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 combined the members of the body and has given 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. [26] If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
[27] "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."