God Over Our Differences

“She’s just really different from me,” I shrugged to my husband as we drove home. Conversation had turned from our kids’ friends to their parents. One mom, in particular, I felt especially disconnected from. Wherever I saw her—grocery store or school event—her outfit, hair, and makeup were complete, accompanied by a beautiful white smile. I assumed her life was as perfect as her looks. 

I found myself judgmental—jealous of what I saw externally and justifying myself internally. Except I had no idea what really lay behind her smile.

As moms, comparison can be instinctive. We see clean hair or obedient children and immediately gauge our own life realities. Maybe we rationalize our behavior, or we accept pressure and beliefs about not measuring up.

But when we open God’s Word, we find that God delights in contrast—in creativity and variety. We witness his pleasure and intentionality in differences, and we see him bring it all together in glorious unity. But not without strain. For the Bible also reveals an enemy in pursuit of destroying the beauty we were meant to share. 

The Start of the Story

Genesis begins by teaching that God created everything. He is the author of all the plants and animals that fill the land, sky, and sea. He establishes different lights to rule the day and night. And he makes man, forming him with his hands and breathing life into his body.[1] 

Like the various plants and animals, humanity is also diverse. People look different from each other, have different talents and passions, and live different lives. Some of us work within our home, others outside. Some have large platforms, others small circles of influence. Some like vintage, others modern. Either way, we all have value, beauty, talent, and purpose, and it all comes from God. Together, we reflect a collective prism of his glory.  

But we also add value to each other with our differences. Paul challenges the church at Corinth, “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? . . . God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (1 Corinthians 12:17-18). God assigns each of us a unique purpose, and together we can operate as a complete body. 

Behind the Scenes

Yet we all know life is more complicated than this. Because man disobeyed God in the garden, we live in a cursed world to this day. We struggle to thrive in our own lanes, let alone work in sync with others. Our talents are poisoned with pride and discontentment. 

And this certainly extends to our interactions with other moms. Motherhood is unbelievably consuming. More exists on our plates than is possible to ever attend to. Yet we try so hard and frequently find ourselves looking side-to-side to assess our progress. 

It’s exhausting for everyone. Regardless of what we visibly perceive, all of our hearts, minds, and circumstances are affected by sin. Nothing is perfect. All of us are plagued with suffering and inability to measure up, yet we’re all offered the same hope.

The Gift

The Gospel of John opens, “To all who did receive [Christ], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). This is where we find ultimate satisfaction and security. 

But for us to be brought in, Christ had to be made far. At the cross, Jesus not only absorbed a physical death, but he absorbed our spiritual death. He took the separation from the Father that we deserved and broke down the walls of hostility between mankind. And now, we become one with Christ and all who share his inheritance by faith. 

Sisters, God is present within and among us. We can bring him our struggles and insecurities, and he is pleased to help us embrace our differences and live as one body. As his children, we can rest secure in our identity. We’re made on purpose and for purpose. And God welcomes us into his kingdom with no regrets or opportunity for cancellation. We can release the striving and comparison. We’re already accepted. 

Because of this, we can celebrate another mom’s gifting, knowing everything points to our Creator himself. He is so beautiful, so detailed, and so majestic that nothing in this world could ever contain all of him. Instead, we image him in billions of different ways. 

The Hope That Awaits

A time will come when we will live in right relationship with each other, without temptation to judge or compare. But for now, we walk in step with our Savior, who secures our place at his table. We learn how to see and celebrate his unique work in us and in the lives of other moms. And we watch as he weaves our stories together in ways we could never imagine.

Some time after that drive with my husband, I signed up for a Bible study. And so did that mom. Week after week, I found myself in awe as I listened to the mama I thought I had nothing in common with. I saw her love for God, family, and community, and I learned of struggles I couldn’t see. My assumptions had been so wrong. Maybe the irony of thinking I couldn’t relate was because God still had so much work to do in me. What a privilege to be corrected.

Whatever our circumstances, background, or passions, praise God for welcoming us into his family and into the opportunity to live in community with our brothers and sisters. Praise him for creating us differently and intentionally. And most of all, praise him for being the single storehouse of all the beauty and talent we experience. What a glorious God we serve. 

[1] Genesis 1; Genesis 2:7; Psalm 119:73