Date: 10/30/2023

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to Him be the Glory, Power, and Dominion forever and ever and to the Holy Ghost that is yet abiding in the body. This month’s key phrase is the same as the month of September: Be Different! This week like discuss, What does it mean to Dare to be Different?

By faith, we can Dare to Be Different. To dare means to “have the courage to do something.” The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul tell us how we can be transformable in Romans 12:1-2. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. Our God is saying here, “Dare to be Different”.  If you think about it, we are all different.  We are constantly in a struggle not to conform to the world around us. God has called us out of this world. John 15:19 states, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you”. Being different is often being an example. 

My brothers and sisters, following Jesus Christ means to be like Him, to respond to life and relate to people as He did. This is what being an ambassador for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20) is about, “…we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God”.  It’s about bringing the difference to the territory we have been assigned: our homes, our offices, and our friendships. John tells us in I John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”.  James says in James 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”. Noah chose to be righteous when all around him was evil and wickedness (Genesis 6:7-8). Lot refused to identify himself with  the grievous sin that reigned in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20). Daniel, stood out by declining to eat the food provided by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in order not to defile his body (Daniel 1:8). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego on their part separated themselves from the crowd by not bowing to the image made by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:16-18).  When these men dared to be different, they stood alone. But alone we must stand, because when someone else does something, it does not make it right.  Apostle Peter tells us in I Peter 1:17, to live our lives as strangers here. “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear”.  As servants of God the great men and women in the Old Testament were called to be different from those around them. We are to be children of the light, not darkness; of day, not night (I Thessalonian 5:5). Believers are called to a life of respect, peace, and kindness.

In closing, today we have opportunities to be different, to go against the flow. We must not be ashamed. Before Jesus’ death, He spoke candidly to His disciples. He let them know if the world hated them, to keep in mind they hated Him first; if they persecuted Jesus, they would also persecute the disciples (John 15:18-20). Ultimately, if we want to succeed in our calling to be different, we must see our estrangement from the world as a small price to pay for eternal life and the rewards God promises (II Timothy 3:12; Matthew 5:10-12). Until next week, make a difference by daring to be different for Jesus; remember, “…with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26b).

In His Service,

Bishop Dr. Calvin Worthem

General Chief Overseer/Senior Bishop