individuality

¹³For you have possessed my temperament. You have supported me from the womb of my mother. ¹⁴I will confess to you, for you have been magnified terribly. Your works are miraculous, as my soul knows exceedingly well. ¹⁵My bone, which you have made in secret, has not been hidden from you, and my substance is in accord with the lower parts of the earth. ¹⁶Your eyes saw my imperfection, and all this shall be written in your book. Days will be formed, and no one shall be in them.

⁴So let each one prove his own work. And in this way, he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another.

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.”

⁷Even those things that are without a soul can make sounds, whether it is a wind or a stringed instrument. But unless they present a distinction within the sounds, how will it be known which is from the pipe and which is from the string?

¹⁴For the body, too, is not one part, but many. ¹⁵If the foot were to say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were the eye, how would it hear? If the whole were hearing, how would it smell? ¹⁸But instead, God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body, just as it has pleased him. ¹⁹So if they were all one part, how would it be a body?

⁴For just as, within one body, we have many parts, though all the parts do not have the same role, ⁵so also we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one is a part, the one of the other. ⁶And we each have different gifts, according to the grace that has been given to us: whether prophecy, in agreement with the reasonableness of faith; ⁷or ministry, in ministering; or he who teaches, in doctrine; ⁸he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, in simplicity; he who governs, in solicitude; he who shows mercy, in cheerfulness.

⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, says the Lord.

¹And, brothers, if a man has been overtaken by any offense, you who are spiritual should instruct someone like this with a spirit of leniency, considering that you yourselves might also be tempted. ²Carry one another’s burdens, and so shall you fulfill the law of Christ. ³For if anyone considers himself to be something, though he may be nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴So let each one prove his own work. And in this way, he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. ⁵For each one shall carry his own burden. ⁶And let him who is being taught the Word discuss it with him who is teaching it to him, in every good way.

⁷But even the very hairs of your head have all been numbered. Therefore, do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

²⁰But instead, there are many parts, indeed, yet one body.

³⁰For even the hairs of your head have all been numbered.

¹⁰Just as each of you has received grace, minister in the same way to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

¹⁴Let all that is yours be immersed in charity.

¹⁹For when I was a free man to all, I made myself the servant of all, so that I might gain all the more. ²⁰And so, to the Jews, I became like a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews. ²¹To those who are under the law, I became as if I were under the law, (though I was not under the law) so that I might gain those who were under the law. To those who were without the law, I became as if I were without the law, (though I was not without the law of God, being in the law of Christ) so that I might gain those who were without the law. ²²To the weak, I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. To all, I became all, so that I might save all. ²³And I do everything for the sake of the Gospel, so that I may become its partner.

²³Then he said to everyone: “If anyone is willing to come after me: let him deny himself, and take up his cross every day, and follow me.