Ephesians 4

One God, One body
It feels pretty sweet to be able to claim, I am part of the body of Christ. Every human being desires to be part of something, a team, a clique, some sort of group that provides support and confidence. In a running club, everyone trains together, everyone warms up together, but as soon as the day of the race comes, the team that is on your t-shirt means nothing, it is now 100% individual.
THe body of Christ cannot be like that, but tends to always shoot down that road. I even found the competition for "better" or "truer" faith to be something that happened constantly. Not with everyone, but it became something that people wouldnt notice until it became blatant and a serious reality check was needed. I find myself doing much the same as the runner example. We gather on sundays, bible studies, etc. for all of the training, and then as soon as we leave that time, we are 100% individual. It shouldnt be like that, everyone excels differently, and faith is something that to a certain extent is individual. Such as, some are charasmatic, and others stiff as a board. Yet their faith resides in the Lord, and he is their savior. Some desire extreme theological knowledge and have BA's and masters like no ones business, and others have read the bible straight up and have found God to be very real with a simple faith. Either way, faith in the Lord is the same, one father, one body.
The runners maybe dont need to run together in race, but rather have headsets/radios so they can cheer each other on. Coaching one another not to give up, but to finish the race and utilize all the times they trained as a team.
So often I wish I was not so individualistic about my faith, and would be able to phone a friend up, or one of you guys and ask for prayer. Use what I learned/trained, and understand that we are a body and should work as one. It helps my faith, your faith, and strengthens the ability to do the task at hand, whatever that may be.
Chapter 4 is a great chapter on understanding the body of Christ and also living Christ like, I really enjoyed chapter four.
"Be kind and compassionate to one antoher, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."