Do you want your kids to be “different” from others?
I do.
And I don’t.
I want my kids to be “different” in all the ways that others admire and praise and value.
I do not want my kids to be “different” in all the ways that others mock and pity and despise and reject and ridicule.
God had a kid.
His kid was different—the kind of “different” that others mocked and pitied and despised and rejected and ridiculed.
God loved that kid and was well-pleased with him.
Because that kid was faithfully “different” on earth, God exalted him to another kind of “different” in heaven—the kind that others admire and praise and value.
We’ve failed to be faithful in our own “different” and our kids’ “different.” We’ve avoided the “different” that God sometimes calls to embrace while pursuing a “different” that isn’t rightfully ours to grasp.
But Jesus didn’t fail. That’s good news for us, who receive all his “different” by faith.
He loves the “different” ones—those who others mock and pity and despise and reject and ridicule.
He came for us, lived for us, died for us, rose for us, ascended for us, pursues us, saves us, and changes us in and with him. In Christ, God is making us the kind of “different” we ought to be.
Maybe my concern ought to be less whether my kids are “different” than other kids, and more whether they’re the same kind of “different” as Jesus.