Family of God

We enjoyed an inspiring as well as challenging conversation in Discipleship Class on Wednesday night.  We were discussing the concept that everyone was important in the eyes of God and that each one had the ability or abilities to impact and influence the lives of our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord.  I truly believe that each and every member of the Body of Christ has an unique and very important role to fulfill.  I believe that the Apostle Paul's words in I Corinthians 12 teach that valuable lesson.  But each of us have the tendency to downplay or in some cases deny the ability or abilities that God has deposited in our lives.  We diminish our contribution to the work of the Kingdom because we allow the enemy to lead us into the process of comparing ourselves to the other members of the family of God.  The Bible calls this action on our part "unwise."  We need to become comfortable with our identity and our abilities.  This does not mean that we do not seek to improve those gifts, talents, or abilities.  For example a  musician may identify at an early age that they have an ability to play an instrument or in some cases multiple instruments.  These individuals do not stop at learning the basics rather they began to delve into the deeper knowledge of music so that they can excel in the release of their gift or ability.  I truly believe that God expects us to exhibit excellence in all things but this excellence is not based on human judgment but based on the true and perfect judgment that God displays toward each of us.  We must remember that we are meant to please God and not perform for the praise of mankind.  The praise of humanity is fickle and our emotions regarding our self-worth can change quickly based on the reactions of others toward us.  We will never be able to please or impress others all of the time but if we can become comfortable in offering to God our best service we will see a difference in our relationship with God and even with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  I believe that the Body of Christ was never meant to compete with each other but we were meant to compliment one another.  We are not involved in a talent contest with each other but we should seek to edify (build up, encourage) our fellow travelers on the road of life.