Daily Devotionals

It’s happened to all of us at least once, and perhaps more than once. We meet a person and say to ourselves, “You know—they’re different. There’s just something about them.”

Obviously, a person whose life has been transformed by a saving encounter with Jesus will be different from what they were before. That’s part of what salvation is all about. But what is it that makes us notice a personality in the first place? If, as the evolutionists claim, we’re just the result of millions of years of gradual change, what makes a person different than an ocelot or a sloth?

Well, we know the answer: God created man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. That’s how man “became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7), and the Hebrew word for that “soul” is nephesh, which can also be interpreted to mean personality.

However, a personality wasn’t the only thing God gave to Adam, the first man—and to each one of us. God also gave us a ruach, as the Hebrew puts it, or a spirit, the “spark of life.” Ruach is a word with many meanings: Its most common use in the Bible is for “breath” or “wind” or “spirit.” But it also has been translated as “courage” (Joshua 2:11) or “strength” (Judges 15:19 NASB). It’s a component of that special something that makes us unique and which can impress others for good or for bad.

Yes, there is something about you. “Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). Let that something shine before others so that they may also know they have a loving heavenly Father who has created them with unique characteristics to be used for His glory.

Apply It:

Keep your life in harmony with Jesus and His teachings, so that others will not only see “something” in you, but will also be drawn to the One who put it there!

Dig Deeper:

Genesis 8:1; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Ezekiel 11:19

Key Bible Texts

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 KJV)