I surrendered my life to Christ three months after I turned thirty, two years after studying the Bible and becoming a part of a church family. Yet, I still struggled with genuine relationship-building and accepting my value as God’s image-bearer. Through ongoing prayerful study and application of His Word, I grew closer to God but yearned for healthy and holy fellowship with His beautifully diverse people.

I wanted my sons to experience the sense of belonging available to Christ-followers, too. I wanted them to love all people from the overflow of God’s love for them. But I needed God’s help to avoid passing on known and unknown prejudices, biases, and stereotypes that could lead to false-beliefs and insecurities about their self-worth and the value of other bearers of God’s image.

I asked the Lord to help me expand my inner circle to include the people He created who were different from me. But I had to accept His view of me as His beloved child before I could walk in confidence and truly celebrate His intentional diversity.

As I studied Psalm 139, God helped me learn to see myself and others as His image-bearers. I taught these six life-changing truths to my sons and the students God placed in my care when I served in youth ministry:

1. God knows everything about us and still chooses to love us (Psalm 139:1-6).

We can’t hide anything from God. He knows our needs and understands how we feel. He even knows what we’re thinking. So, we can come to God for help no matter what we’re going through.

2. God never leaves us or lets us out of His sight (Psalm 139:7-12).

When we feel sad or alone, God reminds us that He is holding us in His loving hands (v. 10). He made us. He takes care of us. Even when we’re having a tough time, God stays with us.

3. God created us on purpose and planned the details of our lives (Psalm 139:13-18).

The Bible says all God’s works are wonderful, that includes every single one of His children. We don’t have to feel bad about being different or change so we can fit in or be like someone else. He has a plan for each of us.

4. God fights His battles and ours (Psalm 139:20-22).

When it’s hard to get along with people who are different from us, we can trust God to help us work through our differences as we make loving Him and others our top priority. When we pray with each other and for each other, God helps us learn to encourage each other and work together.

5. God makes us more like Him so we can be with Him forever (Psalm 139:23-24).

Being made in God’s image means He created us to be like Him in some ways. When we get closer to God, we can know Him better and learn to love more like Him. Then, we can celebrate our differences and our sameness as His wonderfully made children ̶ the only creations made in God’s image ̶ simply because He loves us.

We’ll all experience problems when communicating or working with others, especially when we’re learning how to relate to and appreciate those who are different from us. We can grow in faith as we invite God to make us more like Him each day. And when we teach children, we won’t need to come up with great Sunday School lessons or give long lectures when they see us valuing ourselves and others as God’s image-bearers.

With God’s help, we can teach children six practical ways to celebrate God’s intentional diversity:

1. Be intentional about buying books (and other media) with diverse characters represented in the text or illustrations that avoid negative stereotypes.
2. Introduce young people to the various equipment and resources used to help children with special needs, like canes, braille, sign language, wheelchairs, cochlear implants, service dogs, and more.
3. Research and discuss how childhood cancer and other diseases and disabilities effect children, like autism, Trisomy, Down syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy, birthmarks (Port Wine, macular stains, etc.), vitiligo, and more.
4. Volunteer at local Special Olympics events or fundraisers that offer support for children with special needs.
5. Research and discuss different cultures and attend local events that celebrate various cultures to expose children to God’s creativity in designing His people internationally.
6. Make friends! Be intentional about widening your inner circle of friends to include people who are different from you.

I look forward to growing with you as we empower our children to celebrate our differences and our sameness as God’s beautifully diverse and purposefully connected people!

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In His service,

Xochitl Dixon

Our Daily Bread Writer

Author of Different Like Me and

Waiting for God: Trusting Daily in God’s Plan and Pace

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