Text: 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, Ephesians 1:20-23, Ephesians 2:17-21, Ephesians 5:25-27, Colossians 1:17-20
My senior prom didn’t go like I expected. I invited a boy that I really liked, drove my mom crazy shopping for just the right dark blue dress with sparkles, and when the night arrived I felt like a princess in braces. Over dinner, however, my date noticed my adorable best friend, dressed in black and glittering with charming conversation, completely oblivious to him. He continued to notice her all night. And well into the morning hours, I listened to him recount her virtues and wonder at her beauty.
I felt silly. Worse, I felt insignificant and expendable, my blue dress and smudged eyeliner just an embarrassment. In the years that followed, I have learned not to base my self-worth on the opinion of teenage boys. In fact, I have learned that my self-worth isn’t even the point of my story. But I have not lost my longing to be treasured.
The story of Christ and His church is like a true fairy tale. He slays the dragon, rescues the princess, and takes her home to His kingdom. From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride.
As the church, we are Christ’s treasured bride. And He gives us our place, value, and significance. Don’t worry about your sparkly dress; Christ has something even better to offer. “He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27).
But the story of Christ and His church is greater, because this story isn’t about the worthiness of the church. The church isn’t the bride of Christ because we are the prettiest, cleverest, or even the most obedient. Christ is the one who makes us worthy, and we can find that self-worth in Him, for He is sure, steadfast, and faithful.
Christ Himself is the center and foundation of the church (1 Corinthians 3:11). Samuel Stone wrote this hymn to highlight “the one holy church, and the communion of the saints” part of the Apostle’s Creed. And it’s such a good reminder that those whose foundation is based on Christ are all united in the one holy church.
In all of my longing to be treasured, I can miss the actual treasure: Christ. But instead of building my life on false hopes and imagined romances, I can look to the one foundation “who is also the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). In fact, I don’t need to build my life at all; Paul writes that we are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). So the building is already accomplished. God has already done the work of building the church on the foundation of Christ.
Now my job is to rest in Christ, to lean on Him and the foundation that He has already laid. My worth and my security come from Christ alone. He is our hope and our treasure.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee:
There, past the border mountains,
Where in sweet vales the Bride
With Thee by living fountains
Forever shall abide!
The Church’s One Foundation
Samuel J. Stone, 1866
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.
She is from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won,
With all her sons and daughters
Who, by the Master’s hand
Led through the deathly waters,
Repose in Eden land.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee:
There, past the border mountains,
Where in sweet vales the Bride
With Thee by living fountains
Forever shall abide!
For an added layer of worship during reading plan, we’ve created a Spotify playlist for Hymns V! You can find the complete SRT/HRT Hymns V Playlist here, or listen to the first track on the player below. Enjoy!
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83 thoughts on "The Church’s One Foundation"
Dear God, I put my trust in you, and you always. Please help me to find comfort in your Presence and to let go and let You lead. You are so good. Thank you for all the blessings in my life and thank you for getting me through any storms. I love you! amen.
Amen! I truly loved this!
God is ruler over all❤️
Reminded me of the song titled In Christ Alone
❤️
Thankful for this study!
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Spoke to my heart ❤️
♥️
❤️
Thank you!
God is so good
I love the imagery of Scripture of Christ preparing us as his bride. How it reinforces that it’s him that makes us worthy and that he does it with such gentleness and tenderness.
♥️
I spend too much time thinking my security came from him when in actual reality the security that comes from Him is eternal…So I choose Jesus Christ
My rock, my salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord!
God bless!
‘Now my job is to rest in Christ, to lean on Him and the foundation that He has already laid. My worth and my security come from Christ alone. He is our hope and our treasure.’ This is truth and it can be so hard to forget, especially as a young girl with so many distractions in this modern world, but praise God for his patience and faithfulness and the truth on which we stand
Amen! : )
I’m just now starting to use She Reads Truth plans, and whew! It’s rather lengthy and difficult for me to stay focused. However, the information is extremely helpful and convicting. Anybody relate?
Late to this party but wow I needed this today! I love this series because everyday I feel like it’s what I needed to hear more and more. I have been dealing with insecurity A LOT lately, and this was a beautiful reminder that our security is in Christ alone. It’s so easy to try to seek approval from earthly people, but Christ’s love is so much sweeter!
I had never heard this Hymn before, wow what a great and beautifully written one. Such timeless wisdom in there for all of us about the church being from every nation but having one foundation-Christ. Oh how we forget this in our puffed up pride as American Christians. May we not forget our brothers and sisters all over this world and in our own backyard struggling to win the battle! Thank you for this one!
I really liked how Rebecca noted that we all want to be treasured. And it’s so easy to seek this from other people- men, parents, friends, etc. But the truly satisfying love comes from my Savior. And when I stop expecting all the other relationships in my life to satisfy only what He can, those relationships work better, too. Jesus at the center. My true value and identity come from Him.
Yes! I am struggling with wanting to be treasured by others and ultimately it is GOD who I should be focusing on because HE already treasures me and I don’t have to “be” something to please HIM!
wanting to be treasured sang out for me too. at this juncture in my life I look back at past relationships and realize they were all about looking for acceptance and caring from the wrong people when the Only ONE who truly accepts me has been in front of me the whole time.
Thank you thank you thank you. This was so well written and applied perfectly to my life. Please write more!
God, you are all. You are my everything.
In Christ alone. Such a powerful and needed message. Thank you!
The sparkly dress analogy is so symbolic for all of the material things in life that I fret over. If you have God, you have everything you need. This is a reminder I need constantly.
Man this is so life-giving! Such powerful truth that Christ alone informs our identity. Because He is steadfast and faithful, He is trustworthy and His truth informs the truth of who we are in Him. Come on Jesus.
“As the church, we are Christ’s treasured bride. And He gives us our place, value, and significance.”
Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
I am so joyful after reading these devotional so each day.
I needed to read this: “17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
This really stuck out to me too :)
Just what I needed today!!!
Praying for you Shelbyrae!
thanks elle!
Such an awesome representation of the church♡ just what I needed today!
Will you guys be praying for me. I’m going through some pretty tough personal stuff right now and need all the prayers I can get!
I’m praying for you today!
Because I don’t know how to do Spotify, I went to YouTube and found an amazing video that brought tears to my eyes. My husband and I then sat down and watched/listened through our stereo and we both cried with joy. May you be blessed, too: http://youtu.be/b0hieUU_jz4
Just what I needed today
Thank you Lord for being my source of self-worth and value! Help me to always turn to you when I need to know how loved I am.
This hymn was new to me today. So thankful for the truth is holds in its lyrics!
Such a good reminder to look for our worth in Jesus alone! Only he will satisfy.
Thankful for this :)
So thankful that all of my worth and value come from Christ alone!!
WOW, thank you now I can really do the following: “Now my job is to rest in Christ, to lean on Him and the foundation that He has already laid. My worth and my security come from Christ alone. He is our hope and our treasure.
this is probably the best app just recently found it and I love it it reminds me I just need god that’s he’s never gonna leave me he’s always there ready for me espeacily when I’m not ready he never leaves
Such a great post today! And I love the music that goes with this. It touches on a heavy subject that can be controversial for certain denominations. However, with the proof and foundation of the Bible, it goes to show that the foundation and father of the church is Jesus, not anyone else! Amen!
My favorite version of this hymn: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-Z33IgkyI
Really loved this version!!
With a solid foundation, we can accomplish works that will bring the glory back to God. It is a good reminder that Christ is our cornerstone. He is the one that will hold us up and that we can rest upon. This rock gives us all we need, our job is to trust in Him and put our faith upon that cornerstone. It is so refreshing to know that He is the true treasure and that he treasures me. I love you too God.
Beautiful hymn; beautiful devotion!
Because I know God treasures me, I can treasure others. Not based on who they are, what they’ve accomplished, or how they can benefit me but simply because God treasures them. I pray that today I will give those, whose paths I cross, words of encouragement from my God through me. May all point back to Him.
just ever so much this point!!!
I’ve been humming this hymn for two days now. I love it! Amen.
What a sweet reminder. This completely takes the focus off us and our lives and shifts it back to Jesus, where it should always be.
In the morning when o rise, give me Jesus<3
Thank you Jesus that our true treasure is always found in YOU!
http://Www.In-due-time.com
This is great! Self worth is treasured in our society. You can’t watch tv or listen to music without hearing something about how people find self worth, or that they should love themselves first. This is worded so perfectly. Finding your value in someone or something, even yourself is so dangerous. It leads to pain and sin. Looking for acceptance in Christ is so fulfilling. He will always open his arms and let you in. He won’t judge where you buy your clothes or if you do not wear makeup that day. Your hair never has to be on point and you do not have to act like something you are not. He loves you for exactly how you come to him. With God as your treasure nothing in this world can hurt you. When your worth is found in Christ he is all you need and things might sting, but nothing will break you.
Thank you for this great study and for everything SRT does.
“For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11)
He is my foundation. My firm root. My steady anchor. The place where all things are held together. When life feels chaotic, or I feel tossed about questioning my worth and value and future… He holds me secure, firm, steadfast… always. Thankful that the Lord is our Savior and High Priest. He saved my soul for eternity. He mediates over my life before our Father. He made a way for me to boldly approach the throne of grace. My feelings may be ever-changing, but Jesus is the same forever. He is my faithful, living hope. No matter where I am in life, He is with me.
Thank you, lovely ladies at SRT for these daily truths. For the last few years, the SRT community has encouraged my heart daily as I’ve journeyed through a shifting season of uncertainty (moving cross country twice, cultural adjustments, dashed hopes, answered prayers, continual heart changes…) I’ve been so blessed by SRT during this season. Grateful for this gracious community of ladies – never judging, always full of love and encouragement – thank you, sweet sisters! Your prayers and words have uplifted my heart and pointed me to Him.
Sending hugs and love and prayers to you all, today and always.
I read “self-help” books. I go to therapy to work on my self-worth “issues” and am given exercises to increase that self-worth. Today’s reading is a timely reminder that my self-worth doesn’t come from myself, it comes from Him.
Love this, Joanna! Thanks for joining us today!
xoxo-Kaitlin
“But I have not lost my longing to be treasured.” Oh, how true! Don’t we all seek to be appreciated…to be treasured?! I believe God has given us each this deep longing as a way to point us to Him. Apart from a personal relationship with Christ, we will continue to feel unfulfilled, and try as we might, no human relationship — even the best, God-given and God-sanctioned ones — can fit the bill. Only Jesus. He must truly be our “one foundation”.
Thank you, SRT, for yet another beautiful message of encouragement!
Amen!!!
Yes!! Amen
I don’t know of a single lady that doesn’t need to be reminded that her value and self worth in this world, only comes from the Father. I too, get so caught up, not necessarily with my looks, but will they think I’m a good teacher, will they think I work hard enough, …and the list goes on. Thank you for reminding me, that God is the only one I should seek to please, and make sure I’m in line with Him. Everything else will fall into place.
Right there with you, April. The reminder that everything else will fall into place when I am seeking to please God alone was much needed this morning!
“In all of my longing to be treasured, I can miss the actual treasure: Christ.”
I needed this reminder this morning. It made me see how much I am seeking value and significance in other people’s opinions, which only leads to disappointment and a feeling of worthlessness.
I loved the image of Christ coming to slay the dragon to rescue us and take us home- that he values us enough to go to those great lengths to save us. That is where I need to look for worth and security.
Hanging onto that with you this morning!
I like that you related this to others opinions of ourselves not necessarily or only seeking our value and significance in one person through a relationship but that we seek approval from lots of people that can’t give us anything. Where as Christ is our treasure and our foundation.
Lately I’ve spent so much time planning our relationships with men I may never even have or meet. All I need is Jesus. I have to remember that he is the treasure.
AMEN x’s 1,000 he will be there before them and after them. Get that foundation in God, he will make us whole, we won’t chase love somewhere else cause we are filled with his.
We won’t chase love somewhere else.. Bc we are filled with His. Love this !!
Amen! Right there with you. Jesus is our Prince Charming!
This was absolutely necessary for me to read.
Thanks for joining us today, Hannah Joy! We love having you in our community!
xoxo-Kaitlin
I love this app! It’s so uplifting! I do have one question, how do I remove a plan once I’ve read it? thanks for all you do!