Y.O.U.

God made you and made me. He made us with unique qualities.  Yesterday I wrote about labels and if you have read all 12 of these blogs this year you will have also seen, I was trying to fit into a "mold"; a label, a way of living.  I wanted to be prim and proper because I thought that was what it meant to be a Christian. Then I thought I needed to be quiet and submissive because the Bible said in

Ephesians 5:22-24 and this was the only part that was being preached:

 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.

Not only was it the only  part of the verse that was being preached, but it was being  proclaimed loudly from the pulpit.  Being a new Christian at the time I thought " ok, well he's the preacher and he knows what God is saying so I guess I had better obey".  And this preacher was preaching that submit meant "women, be quiet, do what your husband says even if it means losing yourself". Well this is a recipe for disaster and in some homes, especially if the man of the house is abusive, controlling and not reading the rest of the verse,this can end up with awful consequences.  Now for the rest of the verse which says....

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything

So first things first Christ and His ways are to be followed.  And I am going to tell you that men are the head of the house but in our house for smaller issues and things, my husband knew I was better suited to do certain things, but when big decisions were to be made my husband was and is the final authority.  Why do I not have a problem with being submissive today?  Because we are walking the whole verse as husband and wife. The rest of the verses go on to say:

Ephesians 5:25-33

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—  for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

  

Now back to your uniqueness.  God made YOU...Your Own Uniqueness.  So don't try to fit into a mold, don't try to be someone else, Be Yourself.  And remember that God makes NO JUNK; my paraphrase to Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do

Before we end I want you to also embrace where God has you in your local church serving.

1 Corinthians 12:15-20

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  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 in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body

And if you aren't serving in your local body of believers  then ask God what He has for you and what you are supposed to be doing.