What My Grandbabies Taught Me About the Uniqueness of the Individual

Lesson #4: my grandbabies taught me that humans are unique and that this uniqueness should be celebrated. I have three kids and they are as different as night and day. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love what John Ortberg says about this:

Here is the good news: When you flourish, you become more you. You become more that person God had in mind when he thought you up. You don’t just become holier. You become you-ier. You will change; God wants you to become a “new creation.” But “new” doesn’t mean completely different; instead, it’s like an old piece of furniture that gets restored to its intended beauty.

I used to have a chair my grandfather helped build seventy years ago. I loved it, but its arms were broken, the wood was chipped, and the upholstery was worn through. I finally gave up on it and sold it for fifty cents at a garage sale. The person who bought it knew about restoration, and a few months later I received a picture of it — repaired, refinished, revarnished, and reupholstered. I wish this was one of those stories where the restorer surprises the clueless owner by giving him back his now-glorious chair. But all I have is this alluring picture. Still, I keep the picture taped inside my desk drawer to remind me that “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone! The new is here!”

God wants to redeem you, not exchange you. If you’re a bookish, contemplative type, waiting for God to change you into the kind of person who wears lampshades on your head at parties, good luck on that. Maybe you are a raging extrovert, tired of putting your foot in your mouth all the time. Don’t you wish you could become more like those of us who are introverted: wise, calm, and restrained? It’s never going to happen.

Too bad — we all wish it could.

It is humbling that I cannot be anything I want. I don’t get to create myself. I accept myself as God’s gift to me and accept becoming that person as God’s task set before me. Inside your soul there is a battle between a flourishing self — the person you were created to be — and a languishing self. — John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).

In this lesson we will explore the beauty of the uniqueness of each individual.

8 ready-to-use, discussion-based Bible lessons on the topic: What My Grandbabies Taught Me About Theology. You might not think that a newborn could teach anything about anything. I mean, what does a baby know? Here is what I learned when I held my grandbaby for the first time:

Lesson #1
I am loved / Zephaniah 3.17; John 3.16

Lesson #2
God Protects, Even When I Am Not Aware / Psalm 34

Lesson #3
We Are All Sinners / Romans 3.9 - 26

Lesson #4
God’s Commands Are Good Deuteronomy 6.18; 
Hebrews 11.6; 1 John 5.3

Lesson #5
All God’s Children Are Unique 
Psalm 139; Ephesians 2.10

Lesson #6
Life Is Better When We Get Along
Psalm 133.1; Romans 12.18, 14.15; Hebrews 12.14

Lesson #7
He Has the Whole World In His Hands Matthew 6.25 - 34

Lesson #8
If You Want Something, Ask 
Matthew 7.7 - 11

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