Our Bodies Belong to Our Humanity
Today’s devotional
A meal offered, a chair brought closer, or time given to someone who moves slowly can become a meaningful act of care. Such actions attend to the person we actually meet. Human life is bodily life, with needs that deserve our attention.
John announces that the Word became flesh. The Son who was with God and was God entered genuine human life. His humanity was real, and his divine identity remained. The incarnation places bodily existence within the heart of God's saving work.
This helps us understand ourselves. Our bodies belong to who we are. What happens in the body affects the person: attention, communication, relationships, and daily choices. At the same time, a description of bodily processes cannot tell us everything about a life lived before God.
We need both truths when someone's abilities change. A person who cannot recount a life story is still the person who has lived it. A need for assistance changes the care required. It does not cancel dignity. We honor the person by attending carefully to the needs that are present.
Christian hope carries this bodily life forward. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes God's raising and transforming the dead. Resurrection concerns God's renewal of the person whose life has been subject to weakness and death. Our final hope includes bodily life held within God's redeeming care.
These convictions give ordinary care theological depth. Making room for rest, offering food, or helping someone participate can express love for a whole person. We need not turn bodily vulnerability into a verdict on faith.
Today, notice one bodily need in your own life or in someone you care for. Respond with the patience and respect that need requires. Let your care acknowledge the person whom God creates, loves, and calls into his life.
Adapted from chapter 4, “Embodied Souls, Ensouled Bodies,” in Becoming Fully Human by Dr. R. C. Titus.
Read the Scripture
Open each passage and read slowly. Notice a word, question, or invitation that asks for your attention.
John 1:1-3 · WEBU
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2The same was in the beginning with God.
3All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:14 · WEBU
14The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 · WEBU
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
Pause and respond
For reflection
What bodily need have I overlooked because I was focused on productivity, appearance, or a more visibly spiritual activity?
A practice for today
Attend kindly to one bodily need today, your own or someone else’s. Make room for rest, nourishment, accessibility, or the time another person needs.
A prayer
God who came among us in Jesus, teach me to care for embodied lives. Give me patience with weakness and hope in your promise of resurrection. Help my ordinary care express your love. Amen.
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