Uniquely Created

Nature has a unique quality that sparks appreciation for beauty, creativity and goodness.

The leaves on trees have changed from varying shades of greens, yellows, reds, and browns. Each leaf has a unique color variation before falling. The now barren trees have a distinct branch formation. Snow will fall soon, and each tiny flake will have its own particular design.  Each one of us is also a unique part of the creation around us.

Author and pastor Mark Batterson noted in a recent podcast that God made each one of us unique: we each have our own fingerprint, voiceprint, and even sweat print.

Don’t compare

We marvel in gratitude and appreciation at the unique aspect of nature, yet how often do we get frustrated with our own uniqueness and compare ourselves with others and want to be more like them? We live in a culture that elevates particular aspects of particular people and we begin to compare ourselves and perhaps get caught in a drive to be more like them.  As we peer into certain features of others, we may contort ourselves to fit into a particular mold that we interpret them to have. We try to be someone we are not. 

As some 12-step recovery programs put it, we compare the inside of our lives to the outside of others’ lives.  It is also said that “when we compare, we despair”.  When we exalt others, we degrade ourselves.

The Apostle Paul suggests a different approach in Romans 12:6 (MSG):“So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

Celebrate

Paul encourages us to embrace our uniqueness, marveling in appreciation of how we are excellently formed! Just as we are awed with wonder at the beauty and creativity of nature, we are to joyfully celebrate the beautiful creativity in which we were expressly made. We are to step into and respect who we are made to be, rather than spend our time and energy in comparison traps.

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf, in her devotional Switch on Your Brain Every Day reminds us that “God created you with intention and purpose”, and that “you are designed to reflect a unique part of the image of the divine”.  What an awe-inspiring thought to ponder.

We were not haphazardly made as an art project. Instead, our unique thoughts, features, talents, and abilities reflect the unique qualities of the Creator that formed us.  When I spend my time trying to be someone I am not, I am not appreciating what was so carefully crafted into me, nor honoring the Giver in whose image I am made.

Today as I admire the unique landscape around me, I will admire the unique landscape within me, too.

Let’s Talk: How can you celebrate the unique attributes that God has given you and be who you were made to be?

Photo: “Autumn Tree” by karen_hine