Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it

1 Corinthians 12:12,16-18 (Message)

Have you ever been in a group of people and thought, “Man, I feel so different from all these guys. I don’t think the same way; I don’t find the same things funny; I feel like I don’t fit in.” We’ve all felt this at some point. And then usually, our way of dealing with it is to try and conform to be like them, because different is bad, right? No! In fact, different is exactly what God wants from every single one of us.

Think about the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, the scriptures encompass thousands of years and tell the stories of hundreds of kings, priests, regularJoe’s, orphans, servants, widows, and so many more. Are any of these real-life characters exactly the same as another? Not even close! And yet, God chose to use each and every one of them individually because of their individuality.

Jesus is looking for different. We saw it in His choice of His followers during His ministry, and we certainly see it today inside the church. He needs you to Be YOU because that YOU is exactly what is required to fulfill your true calling. If you are trying to conform to someone else, then you’ll actually disqualify yourself from everything God has for you.

Are you different? Good! That’s exactly what God wants you to be. Find value in your diversity and use it to your advantage! Own YOUR gifts, YOUR calling, and YOUR personality…and be YOU to the fullest!

BELIEVE IT

Do you feel insecure about parts of your personality? Instead of trying to change yourself, what if you embraced your individuality? See your uniqueness as a gift, not a curse, and simply be YOU.

SAY IT

Father, I believe You have made me different from any other person, and those differences are exactly what You will use to reach people. Help me to embrace every aspect of me today.