Thankful for the Many
We have been blessed to have three children ages 17, 13, and 7. We discovered with our second child that God has a sense of humor because she was dramatically different from our first. It wasn't just that she was a girl. Her temperament is different, attitude, and needs were different. By child three, God made it clear to us that He was a comedian. Almost everything we learned about parenting with the first two children was useless. Our third child has been a motivation for time on our knees with God since conception. Yet, last night we were reminded that we need all of them to make our home and family what we know it to be. Our youngest son has been visiting with family for the last two days. Last night, we were all longing for his presence and personality. Something is missing when he is not home. Each of us were very thankful last night for how God has wired him and thankful that he is apart of our family. We wouldn't be the same with just the four of us.
I was reminded this morning that the same is true in the body of Christ. The body of Christ has many members who are very different in temperament, background, culture, and perspective yet we are one body. Gary Moon says, "Individual differences are to be viewed as an occasion of celebration, not conquest". Instead of attempting to change the individual members so that we are all the same, we must accept that God intended the differences and diversity within the body to help us to better accomplish His purpose. The body of Christ wouldn't be the same if we were all the same. I'm thankful for the many parts.
Choose today to thank God for all the people in the body of Christ who are not like you.
Created 10 months ago
