The one another commands

Care for One Another

A command of Christ for his church · 1 Corinthians 12:25

Care for one another is the call for the members of Christ's body to have the same care for each other, so there is no division among them. Paul says the members should have the same care one for another, so that when one suffers, all suffer, and when one is honored, all rejoice. We are one body, and a body cares for all its parts.

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.1 Corinthians 12:25 (KJV)

What this command means

Paul is teaching that the church is a body with many members, and no member can say to another, I have no need of you. God has so arranged it that there should be no schism in the body, but the members should have the same care one for another. To care is to feel and act for the good of the whole.

This care is mutual and universal, reaching every member, especially the ones that seem weak or less honorable, which Paul says are actually necessary and to be given more honor. A healthy body tends its every part. So the church cares for all its people, not just the strong and the prominent.

Why it matters for the church

A body lives by this shared care. When one part hurts, the whole body attends to it; a wounded hand draws the care of the whole person. So Paul says, whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. This shared feeling is the sign of a living body, not a loose crowd.

Such care prevents division. Where members truly care for each other, there is no schism, no factions, no forgotten people. Care knits the church into one. Where care fails, the body fragments into cliques and the weak fall through the cracks. Mutual care is what makes many members one.

This mutual care is how God guards the church against neglect of its weakest members. He has so composed the body that the parts which seem feeble are necessary, and given them more abundant honour, so that the strong cannot dismiss the weak nor the weak feel dispensable. Where the same care reaches every member, no one falls through the cracks, and the whole body is held together in love.

How we fail at it

We fail by caring only for ourselves and our own. We attend to our part of the body and ignore the rest. We do not feel the suffering of members we do not know, and we do not rejoice in honors that are not ours. We let the weak be neglected because caring for them costs us something.

We also fail by envy and comparison, the very things Paul is correcting. When we resent another member's gift or grieve at another's honor instead of rejoicing, we deny that we are one body. Self-centeredness and rivalry are the opposite of the same care Paul commands.

How Christ enables it

Christ cares for his body with perfect love. No man ever yet hated his own flesh, Paul writes, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. He tends every member, seeks the one lost sheep, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He is the head who cares for all his members.

Because we are joined to such a head, his care flows through the body to each part. The same Spirit that unites us to Christ unites us to each other, so that his care becomes ours. We care for one another because we share one life, the life of Christ, who cares for us all.

Christ cares for his body as a man cares for his own flesh, for he nourisheth and cherisheth the church, and we are members of his body. His care is not distant oversight but tender, constant tending, seeking the straying, binding the broken, feeding the flock. Joined to such a head, we become the hands through which his care reaches the members he loves.

How to live it

Widen your circle of care beyond yourself and your friends. Notice who is suffering and go to them; notice who is honored and rejoice with them. Pay special attention to the members who seem weak or overlooked, for they are necessary to the body.

Learn to feel with the body. Let another's grief become partly yours, and another's joy become partly yours. Refuse envy when a brother is honored; refuse indifference when a sister suffers. Act on the care you feel, in visits, help, and presence, so that in the body of Christ no one is left uncared for.

Widen your circle of care beyond yourself and your closest friends. Notice who is suffering and go to them; notice who is honored and rejoice with them rather than envying. Pay deliberate attention to the members who seem weak or overlooked, for they are necessary to the body and easily neglected. Learn to feel with the church, letting another's grief become partly yours and another's joy become partly yours. Refuse indifference when a sister suffers and refuse rivalry when a brother is lifted up. Then act on the care you feel, in visits, practical help, and simple presence. A church cares well not through a program but through many members who have decided that no one in the body will be left uncared for.

Related commands: Bear one another's burdens · Comfort one another · Serve one another · All the one another commands