Different: A 3-Day Devotional by Building 429's Jason RoySample

In a world where everyone is trying to stand out, it becomes increasingly more important to “fit in” and not go against the crowd. Now more than ever, truth is very rarely considered a simple matter. What you believe is true and what I believe is true can be polar opposites. That divide often causes people to step away from each other and back into a corner filled with the most people who would agree with them. How then can we be godly examples of Christ when it seems that most of the world has no interest in what our faith is about, the God whom we serve, or the Scriptures that are the very barometer for how we choose to live?

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and 2:1-5 says:

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Did you know that the spirit of the Lord rests in each of us? Did you know that it will lead you and guide you? When the Spirit of the Lord is leading and guiding, you will be DIFFERENT in every possible way. You will walk with an incredible confidence. You will talk with grace and fervor. You will have a different countenance. You will lead with mercy when your nature wants judgment. You will desire to heal and comfort when you would usually respond in anger. You won’t feel fear when you read that message that would usually throw your whole day off. 

When the Spirit is leading you, you won’t be the same. 

God has a way of using the weak, the lowly, and foolish to silence those who THINK they are wise. I love how Paul says that he resolved to know “nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.” Paul didn’t worry about what others said about him. He didn’t seem to mind extreme opposition from all sides or that he stood out in what some might think was a bad way. He only concerned himself with knowing Christ and the power of the fact that He had overcome the grave. It’s interesting to note that Paul says he will never boast in anything except in the LORD and that he admits his message was never with wise or persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. If we all chose to live the same way…

Wouldn’t that be DIFFERENT?