Best of 2011—Your Butter-fly-ness

I thought I’d wrap up the year with some of the best posts from 2011…

YOUR BUTTER-FLY-NESS (March 25, 2011)

So you’re a butterfly now…

Ya got all that butter-fly-ness going on.

You’ve been made new—the old you is gone and the new you is vibrant and has wings.

The Bible says, “If anyone belongs to Christ, they are a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new!” (2 Corinthians 5.17 NCV)

You’re no longer a caterpillar.

You’re a new creation.

Some practical points about butter-fly-ness…

1. Your butter-fly-ness comes from God. It’s his work, his gift to you. You got nothing to be proud of or to brag about… except in God who made you new.

2. Butterflies come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Don’t assume because someone doesn’t look, sound, talk, or act like you that they’re a caterpillar. Appreciate and honor the beautiful diversity present in God’s kingdom.

3. Never forget where you came from. You used to be a caterpillar. Heck, you used to be a pupa. If not for God’s grace, you still would be a pupa.

4. Rather than seeing caterpillars as pests, we must see them as future butterflies. They might destroy a few plants but they don’t destroy butterflies—so quit worrying about their current state of caterpillar-ness.

5. Encourage caterpillars who are cocooning. There’s no reason to be dogging-on, criticizing or complaining about those who are works-in-progress. Be gracious, patient and kind. Speak positively about them and to them.

6. Speaking of cocoons—the church is a cocoon factory, not a butterfly exhibit. It is impossible to be “too good” to hang out with certain people (think about Jesus—he was perfect and he was known as “a friend of sinners”). How we welcome caterpillars and how we treat those who are cocooning is the real test of our butter-fly-ness.

7. We’re not a butterfly gang. Our group isn’t exclusive—we don’t exclude butterflies because of their characteristics, we include them. We’re a butterfly family—a growing family, a family that can’t stop adopting.