What does it mean to be different? What does it mean to be set apart? Being different is described as being dissimilar, distinct, unlike, or separate. As God’s holy people, His set-apart ones, we carry the spiritual presence of our Father wherever we go. Though every word and action may not have reached the full level of perfection, there is a noticeable difference between ourselves, patterning our lives based on God’s standards, versus the world’s or society’s trends and human methods or desires of thinking. As we recognize humans are flawed in many aspects, we remain as such in our thinking, without the influence of our Creator who is all-knowing, everywhere, and all-powerful.
Thankfully, God has provided statutes, commandments, declarations, and attitudes based on heavenly principles that far differ from those of this world’s system. For example, God tells us in Matthew 5: 43-45, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ‘ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Yet the world encourages us to hit back if we are hit. Also, God tells us in Luke 6:38 to “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Nevertheless, the world elevates getting money–more and more–even if you have to step on others to do so.
If we live within a system that functions differently from God’s kingdom, we can expect to be ridiculed, mocked, misunderstood, and even slandered or bullied, much like the children who appear to be weird or odd compared to their classmates. Yet interestingly, if we find the world and those who love it, adore us, we might need to self-reflect to see if we’ve actually become just like them.
Jesus already told us in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world. …” He also told us in John 15:20, ” ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” Hence, we are faced with the choice of faith in the Way, Jesus Christ of the Bible, or human logic, philosophy, and reason. This entails God’s way of faith–believing without seeing, over human understanding–God’s Kingdom over our worldly culture.
We as believers have found in Jesus a new and better way of living differently based on life in the spirit, versus life based solely on our own wants and needs. For this, we need God’s Holy Spirit active within us, alive and active in our everyday lives, His word, the Bible, strong in our thinking and doing.
1 Corinthians 2:13-16 shows us how amazing it is to think like Christ. “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
As a result, we are different in what we believe, say, and do. With gratefulness, we have the freedom or right in this country to share our beliefs and to invite whoever we may to experience our way of worship and love. We are free to share the promises, gifts, and warnings the Lord has provided us for living the godly and abundant life the Lord has given us, remembering, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” ( John 10:10) Hence, he works with us to take part in this endeavor, by sharing with others.
So we aren’t afraid to be different or uncommon, unusual or rare. It is with us as it was with Jesus when He walked the earth. At least that is how we aim for it to be. “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:5-6) “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17)
We recognize it is not by our own power or strength, but by God’s Spirit, that we can live life healthy and holy before Him. Moreover, God, in His Bible, makes it crystal clear, what is right and what is wrong. No method of changing or deleting it will matter. He has clearly instructed us on how to behave and how not to behave and left us with gifts to the Church to edify and instruct us on living this different life. “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)
Thankfully, God sanctifies and works with us to accomplish what He’s created us to do in life. To sanctify means to consecrate, set apart, and declare holy. In this, we are made different. The world as a result will see us as different and hopefully want to join us–a very good thing!
Ms. Rita's Minute 