Because... that's why!!!

This morning I was sitting on the couch and Isaiah (6) came over to sit on my lap.  We were getting a good snuggle in when Caleb(3) climbed up and tried to push his brother out of my lap.  I told Caleb I'm having a snuggle with Isaiah, "remember this morning in your room when we had a snuggle, now it's Bubba's turn."   It took 2 seconds for this to turn into a fight... They started pushing and name calling...  Isaiah tells Caleb "Well, you make the WORST oatmeal."  I really don't know where that came from, but they were going back and forth.  Right in the middle of this God brought home the verse I had read this morning...

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; THAT YOU SHOULD SHOW FORTH THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO HAS CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT:"  I Peter 2:9.

The thing is I struggle alot with being different...  I always think why do I have to do it this way, they (whoever they are at the minute) don't have to do it this way.  Why can't I be like them?  But, as I was watching this spectacle unfold today the Spirit spoke to my heart...  Just like I expect more from Isaiah and I want him to do things differently God expects me to do things differently.  The whole time they were arguing I was telling Isaiah to use "honey words"...   Proverbs 16:24 says "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."  He knows exactly what I mean when I say that because he has been trained (not very well I guess),  that we should use honey words to build people up not insults...  But, right in that moment I saw what God was saying in I Peter 2:9...  If we do things God's way we will be showing the difference or better yet the training and instruction that we have received which brings PRAISE to HIM who has brought us out of darkness (the old ways of doing things). 

If we do things God's way it brings HIM praise because His ways are better than our ways and we didn't do things that way before.  If Isaiah had listened to me he would have ended the argument and shown that Momma's ways are better than his ways.  If Isaiah would have been different than his younger brother and heeded instruction he could have been an example to Caleb of HOW TO ACT...

I know that's a lot to expect of a 6yr old, but it really showed me ME!!!  It showed me that if I would do things God's way and be different I could SHOW FORTH THE PRAISES OF HIM...  WHO HAS CALLED ME OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT.  If I lived what I was taught I could reveal God to others.  I could show that HIS WAYS are better than my ways.   We have the Word of God to instruct us in this life.  One major reason God has given his word is to reveal himself, his nature and to have a people who SHOW FORTH HIS WAYS!!!   So, like the title of this post...  Because we want to show forth His ways...  that's WHY we have to be different.  We have been called out, set apart, we are a peculiar people who do things differently so that we can reveal the ways of a Holy God.   No matter what it is God's way has always worked out better for me than my own ways...