Songs for Uniqueness

Here are just a few songs I have come across to use to teach Uniqueness:

Knit Me Together by Steve Green (Hide ‘Em In Your Heart CD)

Nobody Like You by ReThink Group (Nobody Like You CD )

You are Very Special view here

We Are the Gospel Fuzzies view here 

What If You Maybe by ReThink Group (Between You and Me CD )

ReThink has some great upbeat songs for teaching biblical character.  You can see their materials here.

Practice Your Gifts

+  Grow in your Gifts  After taking an inventory of all of your spiritual gifts, make a plan to grow in your gift.  For example, if you are good at teaching, maybe you will go into a classroom and observe a teacher and help out.  Maybe you are good at basketball and have the gift of leadership.  Find a team that you can help a coach teach younger students to play basketball.  Maybe you love to serve others and make them feel welcome.  Plan a babysitting night for several families or serve at a homeless shelter.

+  Practice the Gift of Intercession  Pray specifically for the gifts God has given each one of you. For example, “Thank you God for the wonderful ways You have made us. God please build-up the gift of ___ in my friend ___.  We confess that we don’t always use our gifts for You or others in our lives. Please help us to always use our gifts to help others. Let his/her gifts combine with the gifts of others to bring You glory and to show others what you are really like.  Amen.”

+  Practicing the Gift of Generosity  Clean out your toy boxes, book shelves, and closets.  Do the 27 Fling Boogie (idea from www.FlyLady.net) and take the items to a children’s home, Good Will, Salvation Army or local pre-school.

+  Practice the Gift of Teaching  Find a younger person to invest time teaching them either subject material or biblical lessons.  Maybe this is a brother or sister.  Maybe this is helping in a Sunday school class.  Maybe this is someone from school.

+  Practice the Gift of Hospitality Make others feel welcome in your home by taking their coat or taking them on a tour of your home.  Make others feel welcome in your neighborhood by taking them a meal when they move-in, are sick or just need to be reached out to.  Make others feel welcome in your church or school by showing new kids how things work, where to go or even introduce them to others.

+  Practice the Gift of Leadership  Lead others by giving them a good example to follow.  Find a talent that you have that you can help lead others in.  Maybe you are good at singing; start a singing group.  Maybe you like sports; help coach a team. Maybe you like organizing things; ask a parent an area of the house that you can help organize and then show the rest of the family how to keep it organized.  Maybe you like to plan events; help plan a party for your family, friends or even your neighborhood. Maybe you could even start a fundraiser to help someone who is sick. Make sure to plan how others can help you accomplish your goal (delegating).

+  Practice the Gift of Prophecy  If you like to speak boldly about what you believe, pray about who you can tell God’s message to.  This could be anything from salvation to character that should be in someone’s life.  Make sure to practice humility and sensitivity when you speak to others.  Make sure you have worked out what may be sin in your life before you talk to them.

+  Practice the Gift of Mercy or Service  Pray for who God would have you to show compassion or kindness to that are around you.  This could be someone in your family, school or neighborhood.  It could be someone you know or someone you need to get to know.  Maybe you could take a trip to a Nursing Home to encourage the elderly.  Maybe you could help at an animal shelter.  Maybe someone in your family or church is not well and you can go and help them for a couple of hours.

+  Practice the Gift of Encouragement  Think of someone who may need encouraged and make a card for them.  Tell them specifically what you admire about them or what gifts you see in them.  Encourage them in any areas they might be struggling in.  Make sure to find some scripture that may speak to their heart as well.

Exploring Your Gifts

+  Make a Uniqueness List. Make a list of talents and spiritual gifts that God has given each one of you. Using a highlighter, highlight the gifts that you feel are the strongest. Discuss ways that you can use those gifts to serve others and bring glory to God.

+  Spiritual Gift Boxes.  Discuss all of the different spiritual gifts: teaching, leadership, service, hospitality, intercession (prayer), mercy (compassion), encouragement, prophecy (speak boldly about what you believe), and generosity (giving). God wants you to discover and use the gifts He has given you. Decorate a box with different pictures or drawings of things God has gifted each one of you.  Discuss how you can use those gifts and talents for God’s glory.

+  Body Outline Using large paper, trace each one of you.  Decorate the head to look like yourself.  Decorate the body showing special qualities that you have been given by God. (ie: holding an instrument, kicking a soccer ball)

Writing About Your Uniqueness

+  Complete the Sentences...

People say that I am___.

My family thinks I am___.

I think I’m different because___.

I can see that one day God may use me to___. 

I don’t like being___.

But I love being___.

Share your answers with one another.

+  Caterpillars are Meant to Fly  Discuss the process by which the caterpillar turns into a butterfly.  Discuss how God is completing a work in us.  As we grow, God continues to teach us and grow us in areas before He shows us our finished project.  You may not know why you are good at drawing pictures or teaching others until one day He shows you that He wants you to be an illustrator or Christian school teacher.  We have to look for our gifts and take the opportunities to grow our gifts so He can use them in our future. Sometimes that also takes embracing that He made us different from others.  Write about how God might use your gifts in the future.

Bug Object Lessons for Uniqueness

Check out this information on the "10 Most Unique Insects" on the Succeed With Us blog.

Here are some Unique Insects...

Black Bulldog Ant of Australia
"Most Dangerous Ant"

Desert Locust
"Most Destructive"

Goliath Beetle
"Heaviest"

Giant Stick Insect
"Longest"

Sunset Moth of Madagascar
"Most Beautiful"

Thorn Bug
"Weirdest shape"



And of course just some beautiful favorites:
Orange Stink Bug
Leaf bug
Preying Mantis
Tiger Moth
Virgin Tiger Moth
Wild Cherry Sphinx Moth

 

Bugs Teach us Uniqueness

Man has only discovered about 900,000 different kinds of living insects.  Most bug experts think there are way more than that that haven't even been discovered.

thorn bug

Here is what the Department of Systematic Biology, Entomology Section, of the Smithsonian Institution states on their Bug Info page:

"It has long been recognized and documented that insects are the most diverse group of organisms, meaning that the numbers of species of insects are more than any other group. In the world, some 900 thousand different kinds of living insects are known. This representation approximates 80 percent of the world's species. The true figure of living species of insects can only be estimated from present and past studies. Most authorities agree that there are more insect species that have not been described (named by science) than there are insect species that have been previously named. Conservative estimates suggest that this figure is 2 million, but estimates extend to 30 million. In the last decade, much attention has been given to the entomofauna that exists in the canopies of tropical forests of the world. From studies conducted by Terry Erwin of the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Entomology in Latin American forest canopies, the number of living species of insects has been estimated to be 30 million. Insects also probably have the largest biomass of the terrestrial animals. At any time, it is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive."

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Did you count all of those zeros?  That's 19 zeros!  There could be over 10 quintillion individual bugs walking around; each one created by our Awesome Creator. I'd say that that is a whole lof of Uniqueness!

God is infinitely creative, but His creativity doesn't stop with bugs!  Take a look at people around you! You know who did that?  God did! 

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The more we discover about other people, the more our Uniqueness becomes evident and stands out to us.  It's so important to embrace the qualities or GIFTS He has given you and USE them for His glory.  Bugs are a great way to show kids that there is purpose in the way God creates things.  Some things that may seem to be differences that are ugly or unwanted, are really things that help or protect each species.  This can lead into a great conversation about self-worth and accepting all of the ways God made each one of us.

March's Virtue: Uniqueness

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DEFINTION: looking for the gifts in others shows us more about ourselves

MEMORY VERSE: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

CONNECTION: bugs to show how unique our God created our world and us

    (a connection is a visual reminder of the virtue)

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SYNONYMS: one-of-a-kind, special, different, distinctive, individuality, rare, extraordinary

God is unique:

“But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does.” Job 23:13 (NASB)

Jesus is unique:

 “For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God.  But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart.  He has revealed God to us.” John 1:17-18 (NLT)

God made each man unique:

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

God gives us special gifts & talents:

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.” Romans 12:6 (NIV)

“He is the One who gave some the gift to be apostles.  He gave some the gift to be prophets.  He gave some the gift of preaching the good news. And He gave some the gift to be pastors and teachers.  He did it so that they might prepare God’s people to serve.  If they do, the body of Christ will be built up.” Ephesians 4:11-12 (NIrV)

“There are different kinds of gifts.  But they are all given by the same Spirit.” I Corinthians 12:4 (NIrV)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 (NIV)

“Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him.  Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded:” Exodus 31:6 (NIV)

“So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.” Exodus 36:1 (NIV)

“He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems.  Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.” Daniel 5:12 (NIV)

God uses our unique abilities to help Believers:

“For just was each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5 (NIV)

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” I Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

The Day of the Lord is unique:

“On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.  It will be a unique day—a day known only to the LORD—with no distinction between day and night.  When evening comes, there will be light.” Zechariah 14:6-7 (NIV)

background from vladstudio

ANTONYMS: commonness, similar, standard

Don’t hide your uniqueness:

“For am I now seeking approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10 (ESV)

BIBLE STORIES/LESSONS

+  Deborah (Judges 4:1-24)— The prophetess & judge helps Barak lead the Israelites into battle against Sisera & the Canaanites.

+  Gideon (Judges 6:11-7:22)—The youngest of the weakest family is chosen by God to lead 300 men into battle against the Midianites.  

+  David & Goliath (I Samuel 17)—God uses a small boy named David to defeat the Philistine champion with 5 small stones.

+  John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-6)—God uses a very unique man to share God’s message.  He lives in the desert, eats bugs & wears animal skins.