1 Peter 1:14-2:10 Peter compares believers in Jesus Christ to living stones that are built into a spiritual house. So many people come for a season to our church and then move on to another church. Such people never have the beautiful experience of forming a spiritual house. I have heard some refer to such people as rolling stones instead of living stones. If we are always hopping from one church to another simply because things just do not suit us, we run the risk of never maturing in our walk with the Lord. It takes living stones rubbing other living stones even the wrong way for a season to bring each stone into the position where they fit into the building of a spiritual house. If we leave one fellowship before we have found our place of service there, chances are we will never fit into any other spiritual house or body of believers as the Lord wants us to do. Love is not easily offended, and if we run away every time we are offended without dealing with the situation, love will never be perfected (matured) in our lives. As living stones we have to learn to fit together and work together to build a spiritual house.
Our church supports a ministry in France that had the challenge of rebuilding an eleventh-century village into a retreat area. Most of the structures were in shambles when they began their work. The ancient stones were in piles here and there over the properties, and often they had to search for these ancient stones so they could be used in the rebuilding process. The scripture that inspired this couple to begin this work in France over twenty-five years ago was Isaiah 58:12: “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in” (KJV).
As this couple worked with others to rebuild this village, they had to lay the stones out and determine exactly which ones would fit most tightly into the next space that was available. Sometimes they had to shape the stones to fit by chiseling a little on the edges. Their goal was to have as little mortar as possible between each stone because they knew this would make a stronger building. In other words, they had to close up the gaps and get rid of any spaces or breaches between the stones. God wants to do the same with the living stones in His body.
During the building of this village, those who worked on the restoration learned so many spiritual lessons and understood clearly why the body of Christ is compared to living stones. Every summer different teams of young people would come to work on the restoration. This couple noticed that the teams that accomplished the most in the least bit of time were those teams that had little bickering and strife. The teams that were best were made up of individuals who esteemed and respected one another. There was no competition or jealousy between the members of the team, and they were all working for a common goal, not their own agenda. The results of such teams were nearly miraculous. May this be the case in every church.
READ: Ezekiel 45:13-46:24; 1 Peter 1:14-2:10; Psalm 119:36-52; Proverbs 28:11
James Lasher 
Abby Trivett 
