The Saints in Corinth were divided. Some thought their spiritual gifts made them more important than others, and some felt they did not matter at all. Paul wrote to them about the gifts of the Spirit: “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit,” and those gifts are given “to every man to profit withal.”
Then he painted a picture everyone could understand: the human body. A foot cannot quit the body because it is not a hand, and the eye cannot tell the hand, “I have no need of thee.” Even the parts that seem weakest “are necessary.” When one part suffers, the whole body suffers with it. “Now ye are the body of Christ,” Paul wrote, “and members in particular,” with Christ Himself as the head.
Who’s who
Paul: the Apostle writing to the Corinthian Saints
The Corinthian Saints: a branch comparing gifts and taking sides
Jesus Christ: the head of the body, His Church
Where and when
Corinth, a busy Greek port city with a diverse branch of the Church.
Watch for the Savior
Watch how every part is needed, and how Christ is the head of them all.
1 Corinthians 12:11 “dividing to every man Meaning: individually. as he will”
1 Corinthians 12:23 “our Meaning: less attractive. parts”
1 Corinthians 12:25 “no Meaning: division or split. in the body”
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Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from Church leaders. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The eye, the hand, the ear, the foot, the head, the toe, the gift, the bandage and the circle. 1 Corinthians 12
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Where are you?
Feeling left out, unsure of my gifts, hurting, or ready to bring others in. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Every part matters
Paul imagined the parts of a body talking. Tap a part on the left, then find what Paul says about it on the right.
“For the body is not one member, but many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14
Part 5 of 7
Their world, their words
A little background helps us see the Saints in Corinth. Outside sources are labeled.
Church resource · Student manual
An everyday picture
The student manual: Paul “used the analogy of the human body to show how each individual Church member is essential to the entire body of the Church.”4
Everyone has a body. Everyone could picture it.
Church resource · Student manual
Members by baptism
“When people are baptized, they become members of the body of Christ, meaning Christ’s Church.”4
That’s where we get the word “member.”
Church resource · Student manual
No small calling
President Gordon B. Hinckley, quoted in the student manual: “No calling in this church is small or of little consequence.”4
Every place matters.
Apostle
Many nations, one body
Elder D. Todd Christofferson: the Church “will truly be composed of members from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.”3
Like a tear in cloth. Paul wanted no tears in the body.1
What the text does not say
The story does not say some members matter more. Paul says the parts that “seem to be more feeble, are necessary,” and receive “more abundant honour.”1
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Look to Him
It is His body. Christ is the head, and every member belongs to Him.
Paul’s question: “Is it therefore not of the body?”
“There may be people and hearts only you can reach and touch. Perhaps no one else could do it in quite the same way.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, quoted in the student manual4
“The Lord looketh on the heart.”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, quoting 1 Samuel 16:73
“What happens to one happens to all. We endure together.”
Bishop Richard C. Edgley, quoted in the student manual4
Paul
Christ the head
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” Colossians 1:18
Paul
So also is Christ
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12
Ask Heavenly Father to bring one name to mind, someone on the edge. Then do one small thing to help them feel needed.
Try it today
One step each day. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
0 of 7 today
This week:0 of 7 days
Seven days as one body. Come again tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“Members in particular.”
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 slowly. Then thank Jesus Christ for placing you in His body, and ask what part He needs you to play. 1 Corinthians 12:12–27
A verse to hold
Talk about it
Why did Paul compare the Church to a body?
What would happen if the whole body were an eye?
Who are some “quiet” members in our ward who are necessary?
Who is the head of the body?
Open
For adults and deeper study
Go deeper
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Apostle
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “The Doctrine of Belonging” (2022)
Belonging in the body of Christ through service, sacrifice and covenants, and making room for everyone.3
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
The Body of Christ is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for August 23–29, 2027 (1 Corinthians 8–13).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. The story is told in 1 Corinthians 12; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
