June 23, 2016 – Ephesians 6:4-5

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.  Ephesians 6:4-5God has blessed us with diversity all around us.  The diversity begins with the parts of the body, continues with the diversity of the gifts God gives each of us, and continues to the a church of believers whose strength comes from our unity in the belief of Jesus Christ.   Without each member we are not a whole body.Think of a family, when one member of the family is not one the rest of the family, he separates himself.  The result is weakness in the whole.  There is no need to compare what we do to what someone else does, or what our gift is, compared to the gift someone else possesses.  We are responsible for our own work, not the work of others.In a bouquet of flowers, the rose is not envious of the daisy, but together they enhance the beauty of the whole.  In a family, no one child is the same as another but they each add to the family value of oneness by working together.  In the family of God, the glory of being One with Jesus, is the Unity when many God-gifted individuals work together – each seeing to his own work.Comparison only opens the door to dissatisfaction, anger, jealousy and hate through competition.  We are only accountable to God.  The seeds of joy, honor and love brings a harvest of love and life everlasting.  The seeds of comparison lead to the thorns of chaos with the loss of peace and love.Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.  Ephesians 6:7