May I introduce Celia, Leonor, and Uires among others? They are members of a small hospital visitation ministry in northeast Brazil. God has blessed this little team with both unity and diversity. He wants to bless every ministry team truly serving Him with these same two precious gifts.

Recently I have been reflecting on how God uses people who are very different from each other, working together as a team. Each person is unique with different strengths and weaknesses. Our Creator planned that people would use their gifts (strengths) in a team effort for His honor and glory. By the same token, the weaknesses in one member are made up for by another team member’s gifts. Just thinking about how it all works leaves me amazed.

“Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit.” (I Cor 12:4) This verse tells me that we are given diverse gifts. The verse also says “the same Spirit.” Ephesians 4:3 reminds me to make an effort to “keep the unity of the Spirit.” The Spirit of God brings unity when His children allow Him to have His way.

Bringing together a group of people who are so different, yet have the same goals, makes it possible to do so much more. I don’t like to sew and I’m not very good at it. God gave this gift to other members of the hospital ministry team. Some members spend hours cutting out teddy bear patterns, sewing them together, and stuffing them.

I also am not an artist but God gave the team an artist who enjoys painstakingly painting faces on each teddy bear. God gave the team a graphic designer. She makes colorful booklets of Bible verses for the visits. The team has teachers who study and tell Bible stories to anyone who asks. I like to doodle around on a lap harp, creating soothing music to encourage people in the hospital. God has united the hearts of this team, giving us a compassion that comes from His Spirit.

Funny how it can be so easy for me to look at someone else’s gift and think it’s better than mine. That can tempt me to not use my gift and close my eyes to the wonder of uniqueness and unity. Being jealous of someone else’s gift and not valuing mine can also tempt me to disunity. That can disrupt and even destroy the team and put a stop to the work God gave us to do.

May God help me to see and value the gifts of unity and diversity. A failure to do so can disrupt God’s work. Happily, any child of God can serve Him by continuing to be thankful for and using the unique gifts our Creator has given. No less wonderful, is the chance to work side by side with someone else who has different gifts. These are the blessings of being unique and still united…