MATTHEW 10:30–31
How many times have you asked yourself, “Why am I so different from everyone else?” Sometimes your friends even inform you that you’re weird. Don’t you wish you could just blow them off and say, “Well, forget you, I never liked you anyway,” or “Yeah, I am different! I have my own talents that make me special.” Ideally, this is what we all would like: to have the confidence to take criticism and still be standing. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t got to that point yet. The fact is, sometimes truth does hurt. So what do we do when others treat us like being different is a bad thing, even though we know it’s really not? God says we are of great worth. Not greater than other people, but valuable in our own way. Sometimes people point out our differences in order to hurt us, and sometimes they just say things without thinking. But no matter what their reason, we must try to remember that the things that make us different were chosen by God to be a part of us—and He knew what He was doing.
Laura Campbell, 17, Stillwater Christian School, Kalispell, MT
Lord, I pray that I will be proud to be
just as You made me. This may be the hardest
thing I will ever try to do. Please help me!