THE BUILDING UP IN LOVE

Ephesians 4:11-16
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; 16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love. (WEB)

In today's Scripture passage, we read about some of the gifts that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has given to the church (Ephesians 4:7). They come in the form of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. The very reason that our elder brother has enabled some among us to function in these gifts is so that the Body of Christ would be built up in love.

The whole point of the five fold ministry is to help us all grow up in the unity of faith, that we would no longer be childish in our understanding of the gospel, but would reflect the fullness of Christ in our corporate expression. The more that we become like Jesus, the more that we will be a greater manifestation of love to every one around us, for Jesus was the perfect expression of love in human form.

My prayer today is that we would all be reminded of what really matters and that is simply the building up of love within the Body of Christ. As the Apostle Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, without love, any form of Christian service is simply a waste of time. May we all be inspired to 'make love our greatest aim' (1 Corinthians 14:1) in all that we do as we build each other up.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. (WEB)