Good morning! Yesterday morning before Mer was leaving for the weekend, I got up to see her off! We had such a good time together at 5:30am as she was getting ready. She began imitating some of my behaviors and I did the same to her. The one thing she does that absolutely kills me is when she takes her B12 vitamin.
The B12’s we have are the kind you put under your tongue and let them dissolve. Mer does not think she does this, but she puts the B12 under her tongue and then talks to me as she keeps her tongue stuck to the bottom of her mouth. I’m like, “Why are you talking like that?”
So yesterday I took my B12 and kept talking to her in an annoying voice just for fun and we were laughing together as she called me stupid LOL! How boring would it be if we could not laugh at ourselves and each other?!
I used to think that the world would be so much better if everyone thought and acted like me. When other people would do things that didn’t make any sense to me I would get so frustrated and try to teach them the “right” way to do things! But honestly, the world would be so boring if everyone was just like me – and I probably would end up getting annoyed at myself anyways LOL!
The Bible talks about a few people who had specific roles in the establishment of the early church. It took different people doing different things but working together with one purpose to build the church! I have learned that not everybody thinks like me – and that is more than OK!
“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Here Paul is using the picture of planting a seed to show the different tasks represented for growth to take place. Paul plants the seed, Apollos waters it, and God causes it to grow!
If no one planted a seed there would be nothing for people to water. If everyone planted the seed, it would never receive water and in turn would never have the opportunity to grow! We have to begin to appreciate the differences in each other.
I can make this point very clearly by telling you what happens when we need to paint one of the rooms in our house. This is one task that has taught me the value of each person being made unique, but working together!
Mer loves to tape and cut in, which I absolutely despise. I enjoy rolling, which Mer surprisingly doesn’t enjoy doing as much. So when we want to paint a room together, we know the role that each other will excel in and the outcome is a room that looks great and two individuals that enjoyed doing a project together.
Think about it – if there were two of me trying to paint a room, we would both be fighting over who would be the one to do the rolling. We may not even ever get started because neither one of us would want to do the taping and cutting in around the edges!
We have to learn to appreciate each other more. There has been so much growth in my life because I have been able to learn from people that think differently than I do. I’m sure you have heard the expression God has given us two ears and one mouth – we should spend more time listen rather than talking. Learning from each other begins with listening. Not listening to respond, but listening to understand.
I am so glad that I am surrounded by people who think different than I do. It may be frustrating at times, but it really is for our benefit. If we choose to work together in a way that highlights each others strengths, value will be added to each other’s lives and God will be honored!
Today, let’s make a choice to learn from each other, and not just tolerate, but celebrate the differences we have in the way we think about things and the way we do things! We can never compromise the Word of God but instead work together to encourage one another to grow!
Heavenly Father, thank You for making us unique! Help us to appreciate how you have made each of us different as we all work hard at staying true to Your Word and excelling in the tasks that You have given to each one of us! Help us to see the benefit of each person You have placed in our lives and to help them grow in relationship with You! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 