The Upper Room Devotional 12 June 2026, Friday Message
Many Parts, One Body
Jeremy K. Mullen (Pennsylvania, USA)
Today’s Reading
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV)
In college, I served as a volunteer counselor a few weeks each summer at a Christian camp. One of my favorite camp activities involved one of my favorite foods: ice cream. We would ask the camp kitchen to help us make ice cream, and they would give us an old-fashioned, hand-cranked ice cream maker and all the ingredients needed. I remember telling my campers that each ingredient was important in making the ice cream turn out right.
Like the ice cream ingredients, each member of the church is important. Each has a part to play as they use their spiritual gifts and share their time, talents, and resources. The community of believers is the body of Christ, and each member of that body is important, with a unique purpose and function. We should never think that we, or others in the body, don’t matter because of the spiritual gift or ministry we do or do not have. After all, “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
Thought for the Day
I have a unique part to play in the life of Christ’s church.
Prayer Focus
My church family
Today’s Prayer
Dear God, thank you for making each of us a part of the body of Christ. Help us to remember that we are important so that we do our part in helping the church function the way it should. Amen.
The Upper Room Devotional 12 June 2026 is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. Read More