Glorify God by Being You
“If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” 1 Corinthians 12: 17-18
If you’ve come to camp ever before, there’s a 99% chance you’ve heard a devotion with these verses. We often use this section from 1 Corinthians 12 to talk about group unity… when you’re living with a bunch of different personalities in one cabin, you need everyone to work together to have the best summer ever! And we need to understand that not everyone is meant to be exactly like us - everyone has different gifts and talents that they can bring to the table, so it is important for us to accept everyone for who they are.
But, because I’m a girl and know what girls think, I bet I can tell you what you haven’t used this verse to remind yourself of. We need to remember that we don’t have to be like everyone else, not just that everyone doesn’t need to be like us.
You were given your own gifts and talents that are meant to be unique from everyone around you. It is time for us to stop comparing ourselves to everyone else! Maybe she does make better grades than you… maybe she is a faster runner than you… maybe she does look better in that one particular dress. But maybe all she can think of is how much better of a dancer you are than she is, or how much neater your handwriting is, or how much more she likes your hair than hers.
We all do it… we all compare ourselves to the people around us, and focus on what makes us feel bad. But we weren’t made to do that!
The great news is that we were made exactly the way God wanted us to be. He didn’t want us to be exactly like everyone else. And the best way to glorify God is to be ourselves to the best of our ability - because that’s what He made us to do.
So instead of focusing on how to change ourselves to be more like someone else, we should focus on how we can amplify the great things about us. Next time you start to feel bad about yourself because someone else is better, think about all the great gifts and talents you have and how you can make those even better! You be you, and you’ll glorify God in the process.