Somewhere along the way through time, the notion has been planted in young minds that being the same is the way to go. This pressure of uniformity stays with many of us as an adult. It can lead to a life of feeling lonely when we are not comfortable in our own skin. Unsure of who to follow, we change the way we look, the way we act, and the way we think just to (hopefully) be accepted. If you are ‘different’, you are labeled an outsider and you do not belong. The media or whoever spread this thought is dead wrong. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)→ each and every individual. And with our individual differences, we can serve God and make the body of Christ a beautiful thing to behold and a wonderful place to belong.

I am sharing a quote written by author Jan Karon who wrote this on her Facebook page a few years ago. ‘Comparison issues’ and feelings of self-consciousnesses can plague us for years. It is exhausting mentally and spiritually for that is not the way God would have us see ourselves. I am encouraged by the following quote to be more God-conscious, not self-conscious. I am motivated to keep complimenting (part of January’s Grace Goals) others because I never know just how much that person might have needed reassurance and support on a particular day.

From Jan Karon- January 4, 2016:

“For our readers who did not grow up in the South: a generous portion of okra or beans or collards or salad greens, etc, is called a “mess”.

I was always different. I never felt that I fit in anywhere. Some of you know that feeling. Usually, I felt too dumb or too smart, too thin or too fat, too short or (at a mere 5’3” I never felt too tall). I just couldn’t find a way to identify whatever myself might really be.

When I was seven or eight years old, my grandmother, Miss Fannie, gave me a bemused look and said, “Janice, you’re different.” There was a long pause; my very life seemed to hang suspended. “And,” she said, “that’s a good thing.”

It took decades for me to understand and believe that. And here’s an experience that helped.

I was getting ready to fry okra, and while washing it, came across a green bean that had somehow landed in that mess of okra. I cut the green bean in three or four pieces and coated them with batter, and every now and then, in that melange of fried okra, I’d come across a delicious bit of green bean.

What a difference.

I believe it takes a whole mess of okra to make one green bean so full of surprise.

God didn’t make you like everybody else, of course. He made you like your very own self. Something special. Something different.

If you’re still trying to figure out what that wonderful difference is, here’s the best way, in my opinion, to find out.

Say, “God, you made me and you know what you made me to be. What is it? Show me. I want to know. Because whatever you made me to be, that’s exactly what I want to be. I’m excited! Thank you.”