One Body, Different Parts: Devotions From Time Of GraceЗагвар

A tale of two kids 

Walk into my eldest daughter’s bedroom and you will marvel at the tidy space. Stop next door at her younger sister’s room and you’ll wonder if a tornado touched down on a stuffed animal factory. My kids are different. The clean one is quiet and smart like her momma. The messy one is funny and beautifully compassionate. They have different gifts, different personalities, different passions. Same mom, same dad, different kids.

The same thing is true of Christians. Same God, same Bible, different people. Paul writes, “All these [gifts] are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11). The Holy Spirit determined to give us all different gifts, even if we are part of the same church family or even the same biological family.

So can I encourage you to stop competing and start complementing? You don’t have to be like your older sister or your younger brother. You don’t have to communicate like your brothers in faith or solve problems like your sisters in Christ. You can be you. You can thank God for gracing you with your gifts, your passions, and your personality. When God made you, he meant it.

If you’re a parent, can I offer a similar encouragement? Kids thrive when they can be themselves, without obsessive comparisons to their siblings. So remind them of the Savior who died for their sins and sent his Spirit so they could be unique parts in the body of Christ.