God Made Us Different...on Purpose!
Bible Readings
Take a few minutes to read the Bible verses listed and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in how this verse applies to you this week.
Memory Verse
After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, “Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb.” (CEV)
How many languages do you speak? Most of us speak only one. Many people speak two languages, and some people speak many languages. There are many languages from around the world! Our languages show one way that we are different. But there are a lot of other ways we are different from one another. People have different heights, weights, skin colors, hair styles, abilities, and more.
Sometimes we might feel tempted to avoid people who are different from us. We tend to choose friends who like the same things we do. But we quickly find out that no one is just like us. We have to learn that our differences make the world more interesting. People who are different from us can teach us to love better. We should thank God for people who are different from us.
The Bible tells us that each of us—differences and all—is created in the image of God. From the beginning to the end, the Bible tells us that God wants to save all kinds of people. We can see God calling many nations and languages together in both Acts 2 and Revelation 7! God does not erase our differences; God loves our differences. And—because we’re all made in God’s image—God wants us to love one another and to grow together with all our differences.
Prayer
Creator God, thank you for creating us to be different and each in your own image. Help us to enjoy our differences and to see you in each person we meet. Amen.Related Resources
Anthony Peterson
Anthony Peterson loves to talk about people differences. He serves in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife, Laura. They love four children and twelve grandchildren.