The Power Of Embracing Your Difference by Rev. Sam Oye: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Your Difference Is Your Distinction

When God created you, he created you to be different. God did not create you to be the same, not even with your twin brother or twin sister. As wonderful as twins are, they are not the same. Knowing your difference is the foundation for actually making a difference. Those who don't know their difference may stumble into some kind of success, but they will not be able to sustain it because they lack the knowledge of their difference.

Your difference is your distinction. What sets you apart, what separates you from the crowd, is your difference. Don't give up your difference because the crowd has lost theirs. The crowd will either fight, question, interrogate, or be suspicious whenever difference shows up. Don't allow the looks, the words, or the opinions of those who have given up difference for sameness to make you give up your own difference.

Difference as Design, Deployment, and Dominion

• Your difference is your design. Your design points to your difference. The way God designed you is different from the way he designed anyone else.
• Your difference is your deployment. God will assign you to a place and position you in connection with your difference. Joseph was deployed to Egypt because that was the environment suited to his calling and critical to his fruitfulness.
• Your difference will sustain your dominion. It's your difference that gives you influence. The more you nurture your difference and allow it to grow, the more your influence and dominion grow.

When you embrace your difference, you mortify, exterminate, and terminate the reign of envy, jealousy, and competition. When leaders compete with each other, they've lost the sense of their own difference.

Protecting Your Difference in the Midst of Trouble

Your destiny is hidden in your distinction. Protect your difference, and don't give up on it.

Daniel had an excellent spirit that made him different. While others blended into Babylon, while so many of his people took on Babylonian culture, Daniel refused to defile himself. When threatened, he said, "I'm going to stay in the place of my consecration. I will stay disciplined. I will stay focused. I will maintain my difference."

Your difference will get you into trouble, but there is a prophecy over your difference. If you hold on to it in the midst of trouble, the God of your difference will bring you out.