Diversity Sharpens You

Wed, 8 May 2019

‘For you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Galatians 3:28 NLT

If you limit yourself only to people who think exactly like you, you’ll never grow personally or accomplish what God has in mind for you. You need people who have 20/20 vision where you have blind spots. The way to offset your weak areas is by being able to work with people who are strong in those areas. Instead of looking for those who conform to your opinions, you need someone who loves you enough to challenge your opinions from time to time. Why? Because you still have a lot of learning and growing to do!

Think of the people Jesus picked. Luke was a doctor, and Peter and John were fishermen. If you prided yourself on your image, which would you have picked? But Jesus needed them all to accomplish His mission. He knew we need people who complement us, not duplicate us. It is estimated that even if you had the genius of Einstein, you’d still know less than one per cent of all there is to know. And if you were mega-talented, you’d only be able to achieve less than one per cent of what can be achieved. Yes, we need harmony. But there’s a difference between harmony which is derived from two or more distinctly different notes that blend together, and unison, the same note made at the same time. Harmony is far more appealing to the ear than unison. So your relationships should be harmonious without being in clone-like unison. Think about it: you are uniquely different from anyone else. So if you want others to love and accept you, start loving and accepting them. The greatest wisdom is found in diversity, not conformity.