As I was driving past a large field this morning, I couldn’t help but to notice all the snow that accumulated this winter. It’s kind of hard to miss this year, isn’t it?  Admiring the beauty and the sunshine, I started thinking about how many snowflakes might be in that field – an astronomical number, for sure. All those tiny snowflakes comprised the snow I could see right next to me and all the snow I could see on the Bighorns in the distance.  That’s an incredible number of snowflakes!

Continuing to drive, I remembered that each snowflake is unique – no two are alike. If something as simple as a snowflake has no duplicate, how much more profound the differences among incredibly complex, dynamic people.  These differences are expressed in culture, past experiences, abilities, personality, passions, and dreams. You are unique. There is no one like you.

The Bible teaches that you were created uniquely and intentionally.  King David describes this intentionality in Psalm 139:13, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  The Creator God knows you and cares deeply about you. This gives you dignity, even if the world tries to strip away that dignity. No person, government, or adversary can take away what God has given you.

God not only created you, he also purposely designed you.  Additionally, God has a perfect place for you. Using a metaphor of the body to describe the church, Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 12:18, “God has put each part just where he wants it.”  He planned for you and he has a place especially for you in the body of Christ, the ekklesia. This gives you purpose.

The Apostle Paul continued in his letter to the Corinthians describing God’s intentionality in creating the body.  Each part is important and no part is superior to the rest. Any effort to remove a part from the body is simply heresy.  Every part is necessary and significant. The left hand needs the right hand. The right hand needs the left hand. We are better together in unity than we will ever be separate.  Paul concluded the analogy by saying, “all of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”

We have a tendency to mistake uniformity for unity. Advocating for uniformity denies the uniqueness of each and every individual, which results in a loss to the completeness of the body.  We need all the parts working together as one body. God is honored when all the different parts work together.

Let’s honor our differences, because God the Creator and Designer made each of us differently just as he did all the snowflakes in the field.  Even better, let’s recognize how each other’s uniqueness is a blessing and a gift. Let’s honor God by serving each other well, by honoring each other (Romans 12:10), by striving for excellence in all that we do, and by turning back to Jesus, who is the head.

“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:36 NLT)

This first appeared in The Sheridan Press on Friday, March 8, 2019. (https://thesheridanpress.com/103536/all-differences-working-together/)  Please support your local newspaper!