Remember when Michael Jordan retired from basketball to play baseball? Ever think it was a little greedy? I mean come on Mike, most of the world can not throw a basketball to save our lives and you have shoes named after you! Being great at one thing is awesome, but dang, being great at everything is… better. Honestly, I was hoping he’d become the next Babe Ruth and then go on to conquer the NFL. Not because of my sincere love for sports but because, secretly, “I wanna be like Mike”. If Mike is able to master everything, maybe I can too.

Sometimes I call myself a, “Jack-of-all-trades, and a master of none”. What I’m really saying is, “I wish I could be a master of all things and a jack of none”. Everyone has something that they excel at, it’s just not always enough. I am confident in the gifts that I have, but instead of refining them, I often wish I could add more gifts and talents to my bag of tricks. Just like Mike, as soon as I master one thing, I naturally assume it is time to get better at some thing else. Confident doesn’t always mean content.

The world tells me that I am just being “the best me I can be” by wanting to excel in everything I do. I know that’s just a clever disguise for the voice that tells me, “who you are, is not enough”. I can’t be everything, and the Bible says that is okay.

1 Corinthians chapter 12 describes the church as a body with many members (12). Complex organisms like a body are diverse, but each member has a specific function.

As a part of a body, I was not designed to be everything. I doubt my eyes ever think, “I’m pretty good at seeing, but if I could only be a nose. Smelling would be awesome.” It sounds ridiculous but I do that all the time. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve wished I could take pictures, cut hair, paint, or craft. What do those things have in common? I have friends that do them with excellence. When I remember that we are members of the same body, however, I spend less time wishing I had different abilities and more time developing the abilities I know I have. Why? Because a body functions best when all its members are working.

I can’t be everything. I have a responsibility as a part of a body to know what God has uniquely crafted me to do, and to do that with everything that I am.

So, for starters: I’m going to stop beating myself up over all the things that I am not and praise God for the things that I am. I don’t have to be, “like Mike”, or anyone else. In a body, it’s more important that I get really good at just being me.

Praying for you all this week. Let God be glorified in all you do.