Still captivated by these verses in Chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians, I looked again at verses 4-13. Paul talks about how they allowed themselves to be changed body, soul, and spirit in order to not be an obstacle to others. If you’ve missed the other blogs related to this passage you can check them out here and here.

What does it mean to serve people with disabilities, or anyone for that matter, with our body, soul, and spirit?

1.    Spirit. We’ll start with the spirit because this is the part of us that is dead because of sin. Sin just means we’ve missed the mark of God’s best for us. We’ve chosen to follow our own way instead of His. The first thing that needs to happen to truly serve people different than ourselves, whether they have a disability or not, is to be alive in our innermost being. We need to know God and allow Him to change us from the inside out.

2.    Soul. Our soul refers to our thoughts, will, and emotions. Paul talks about dying to our old self and putting on our new self. If we are going to serve others and not be an obstacle, we have to change how we feel towards, what we think about, and how we choose to respond to and act towards people with disabilities. We have thoughts and feelings that lead our actions that are contrary to God’s heart, often based in prejudice or fear. We must allow him to search the depths of our heart, identify where our thoughts, will, and emotions don’t line up with His and then do the work to replace it all with His perspective. It won’t be easy, but it is worth the work and time. People’s lives are at stake.

3.    Body. Finally, our body is the physical body, where we act out the things that come from our spirit and soul. When we get our spirit and soul aligned with God in regards to people with disabilities, we can reach out to them in various forms of ministry. Ministries will then encourage and help them find their place of service in the Kingdom. We will serve not merely to serve, but so that all people, regardless of race, previous religion, lifestyle, opposing perspectives, can be one in Christ, serving together as He leads.

Let’s surrender ourselves-body, soul, and spirit-to the heart and mind of God for all people. My heart is toward people with disabilities, but maybe for you it is the refugee, the prostitute, the LGBT community, those struggling in addiction, or any other group of people. Let us put off the old self and put on the new self, so we, like Paul and his team, will not be an obstacle to others. Let no fault be be found in our ministry.