Dare To Be Different

Dare To be Different
Some people think they have the spiritual gift of criticism. They don’t, it’s not a gift.
It’s more of a curse that comes with the spiritual pride that they do have. 
I should know, I had it for many years and still struggle with it.

I have always enjoyed a healthy discussion on spiritual matters. I think that if done in a respectful manner everyone can learn something by listening to each other. Unfortunately I don’t see many well mannered theological conversations. What I do see are people harshly criticizing other people, judging other churches, and bashing other belief systems!

Historically at some point, the Romans confused the word cristos with the word crestos. Cristos means Christ; Crestos, in Latin, means kindness. In a roundabout way, that confusion can teach us something: Christians should be the kindest of all people - but I'm not sure the rest of the world is seeing that.

Sometimes it’s hard to be kind, especially if those you’re with have a counter viewpoint, (and they're boneheads)!  But instead of having a know-it-all attitude something inside of me says I should be respond differently. What about you? 

Do you want to be like most people and live for only themselves or do you want to dare to be different? If you want to be different I’d like to give you an objective: If you want to be a people-builder begin by writing down the name of one person you want to help build up, then stop and pray.

Ask God to show you that person’s strengths.  We always build on our strengths, not on our weaknesses. Write down whatever strengths you’ve seen in him or her in the past.

Then tell him or her, "I've been thinking about you because I really care about you.  I wanted to share with you—from my viewpoint—the strengths I see in your life, because those strengths determine what we need for fulfillment."  

Imagine the impact you could have if you would commit yourself to being a people-builder, if you determined to bring out the best in everyone within your circle of relationships?

That's one of the purposes I see for my life: to help people grow spiritually and become who they are supposed to be. Instead of tearing down, I want to build up. I’m going to dare to be different!

We should all please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. Romans 15:2