God customized you as His frame.

This week I was reflecting and praying about this principle: God has made us the perfect frame to do what He wants to do through each of us. Though Jesus is the same within all of us, when He is framed by our unique blend of physical appearance and personality, we can display Him differently than anyone else in history.

And that makes each of us incredibly special.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Ephesians 5: 15,16)

I was thinking this week that since all Christ followers combine to form the body of Christ globally, then every time we are not walking with the Lord and being a display for Him, we are dimming the beauty of Jesus that can be displayed through the body of Christ at large. My spirit was bolstered by the realization that each of us contributes to the brilliance of the body of Christ by doing our small part well. I was sobered by the reality that when we don’t live well, we let the entire body of Christ down.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
(Romans 12:4-5)

We are critically important to each other.

Our physical frame…with its specific age and skeletal shape, with its specific skin and unique appearance…also has a personality woven into it, a personality customized for our physical frame. Assume for a moment that we are all the same-sized puzzle of five personality pieces, but the configurations of the puzzle pieces differ between us. To alter one piece means to alter another. Using myself as an example, to take away some of my intensity would mean to increase the size of another puzzle piece such as compassion or creativity or peacemaking.

What I have been thinking about lately is that if my personality were changed even just a tad, I would no longer be the optimum frame for the good works God has prepared before me. My intensity serves some purpose that I would no longer be able to achieve if some of it were taken away.

• Right now my frame is 56 years old.
• Right now my frame is fair-skinned and freckled.
• Right now my frame is blended with an analytical and intense personality…a bit on the serious side…but my love for people is big.

God customized me to be the perfect frame for what He wants to do through me in this generation.

• Right now my frame resides in Georgia on a specific street with a specific house number.

My address is the perfect spot from which God wants to display Himself in a unique way for the body of Christ to shine maximally.

I want to trust God with my frame and personality, and to like myself on the basis of this grander purpose that we all share together. 

So this week I did my best for everyone…for every Christ follower on the globe. I showed up. I tried to be the best light I could be so as to join in with all of you who are also aiming to be the best light you can be…and together we were a light on the hill. A city that could not be hidden.

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14)

Picture Explanation: I started a talk about forgiveness using the frame concepts described here. If you want to listen to the talk, you may do so HERE. In addition, we have now played our first lacrosse game of the season on our home field.

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