You have a measure of faith to explore, exercise and express.
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14 NIV
My thoughts and comments today are about,
“Similarity and Originality.”
Life should be stable rather than static. Those words are similar but not identical. Describing someone or something as stable is more positive, suggesting reliability. Whereas describing someone or something as static suggests a reticence or inability to change. Stability requires dynamic balance, continually adapting through subtle adjustments to current realities. The concept of balance that intrigues me today is about the life-balance of one’s humility due to similarity to others, accompanied by a confidence of one’s originality because of God’s unique grace, experienced and expressed by your life.
Your life in Christ necessitates that you learn to walk in humility before God and others. The beloved psalmist, David, marveled at the brilliance of his Creator and the uniqueness of his own creation,“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Read Psalm 139:14 NIV. As regards one another, we are both similar and original. There is so much that we share with one another, and we also enjoy a God-chosen uniqueness.
And your identity in Christ requires that you understand the fullness of your originality. You are an original, uniquely crafted by the genius of God. Your DNA, your fingerprints, your personality, your likes and dislikes, and your history and destiny are distinct to you. In so many ways, you are one of a kind. Those distinctions were never meant to boost your pride. You are an original for the glory and praise of your Creator. But in some ways, you are not so different from every other person. Apart from God’s grace and gifts to you, of what can you boast? Blending those two realities and balancing the need and purpose for each is the challenge that you must master to enjoy the greater success.
You have many reasons to walk in true humility. “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.” 1 Peter 5:5-6 NIV. A person who is so impressed with them self that they are unenjoyable, even unbearable, evidences the worst of either of those similarities and differences. Or there is the opposite extreme of the person who is so self-deprecating that they make you uncomfortable, while excusing them self from extra effort or expectation. Both reflect an unhealthy imbalance.
Here is the Bible’s explanation of the Godly balance between similarity and originality, “For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 NAS. How beautifully and practically stated. We each have been given a measure of faith to explore, exercise, and express. Do not think of yourself proudly. “Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3 NLT.
You and I have so many reasons for genuine humility. And because of grace, we have so many reasons for rejoicing in God’s goodness and mercy. Yet God who knows you better than all others believes you are redeemable. But as importantly, think of yourself no less highly than you ought to think, according to the the gift of God within you and the grace of God upon you. Believe about yourself what God says about you.
Today, I pray for you to enjoy who you are and fully credit God Who made you in His image.
Christian Communications 2017- 8107
Website and archives: allenrandolph.com