Tailor-Made for Other People

Tailor-Made for Other People

(Picture credits at end of post)

Not many of us can afford tailor-made clothing. I don’t think I have ever gone to a tailor to make a suit for me. I would if I could.

The skill a tailor possesses enables him to cut cloth and sew it together in such a manner as to have the suit to fit each individual perfectly. Even if the next customer is the same size generally, the suit he has made for one may not be a perfect fit for another. A tailor creates each product individually, with specific measurements to suit the size and body type of the one for whom he is making the suit.

Now I believe God is our Master Tailor. He creates us individually to meet specific needs. He has tailor-made us for other people. Much of the unhappiness we endure as followers of Christ is because we take God’s design and try to make it serve our own needs to the exclusion of the needs of those around us.

Disciples, or followers of Jesus strive to follow in His Steps – to emulate the life He lived.

Jesus tailor-made His life to exactly suit our individual needs. Can we do any less  for those God has cause to cross our paths?

Tailor-Made for Other People

(© May 17th 1995 – by Christopher Shennan)

“Tailor-made for other people,”

Are the words that touch my mind,

When I think of all the trials

In my life — of the ugly kind.

I had felt as if the scissors

had snipped away some part

That was desperately needed,

To fully satisfy my heart.

You see, I had found the pattern

That I thought was best for me;

That I thought would suit ambitions

That my inner eye could see.

The pattern of my future life,

And the cloth from which it was made,

Would have to fit the image

Of the plans that I had laid.

But then, when the cutting started,

And the pattern soon took form,

I knew it would never fit me;

I wished that I’d never been born.

So I cried to God, my Tailor,

And complained that the suit He’d made

Fell sadly short of the fashion,

In colour, in shape, in grade.

He replied, “You’ve been mistaken

And deluded in your thoughts.

Your life was the cloth I needed —

With my own blood it was bought.

“You are not your own. I fashioned

Each contour, each colour, each line,

For the needs of other people –

For a purpose truly Mine.

“You’ve been tailor-made for others,

Not to satisfy your whim;

And I’ve made your life on purpose

So its light will ne’er grow dim.

 Please visit My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.

Compelling Love

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Compelling Love

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – NASB)

The love of Christ controls us. The NKJV renders it as: For the love of Christ compels us…

The two thoughts together give the idea of a controlled but compelling desire to fulfil Gods will, motivated by the love of Christ. In the previous verse Paul and his companions were beside ourselves, which is another way of saying they were almost crazy with excitement in declaring the Gospel. People thought they were out of their minds, when in fact they were the only ones among them having soundness of mind.

Oh that every church member had this apparently crazy mix: to be controlled, compelled and crazy with love for our Lord. To stand out from the crowd, yet make a lasting Impression upon it. To be noticed, and yet not be overwhelming. To be dynamic, and yet approachable and warm.

How will this happen?

It will happen when we allow the love of Christ to control and compel us. It will happen when we are not so self-conscious we are afraid people will think we are crazy if we are bold enough to share the Gospel with them. It will happen when we share the Gospel even if they do end up thinking we are crazy.

The love of Christ has to be a fire in our souls, a compulsion in our spirits, and a passion in our hearts.

Compelling Love

(© Monday 5^th January 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

For the love of Christ compels us… (2 Corinthians 5:14 – NKJV)

Not to be crazy but crazy in love,

Compelled by the love that compelled my Lord;

Bearing His cross to bring Grace from above –

So, Lord compel me – let Heaven applaud.

They may think I’m crazy; I don’t much care,

As long as I’m controlled by God’s own power;

As long as I’m spreading love everywhere,

And still live in His Presence hour by hour.

Light a fire of compelling love in me;

Let it burn up the dross and purify

All unworthy motives for what I do –

Make me a true witness before I die.

There are many things worthy to strive for,

But love is one thing worth it to die for.

 Please check out my books at My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

Photo by Nik Frey. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.5 license; please note the Disclaimer at this final link. No changes were made to this photograph.

Tailor-Made for Other People

Tailor-Made for Other People

Have you ever thought about what God made you for? As a born again Christian, having experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ, for whom does he intend you to live?

Of course we must live for God, but how do we do that? Is all our attention meant to be upon ourselves and our own spiritual growth? The most practical way of advancing our own spiritual lives is to live for others – shift our focus from our own needs alone, to the needs of others. All the great men of God in the Bible, and out of it, were marked by their selflessness and service to others for the advancement of the kingdom of God.

The apostle Peter made this very clear, as did the apostle Paul in referring to a Christian brother named Epaphras:

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. (1 Peter 1:22 – KJV)

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. (Colossians 4:12 – NASB)

God did not create us in Christ to live for ourselves alone; He tailor made us for other people.

Tailor-Made for Other People

© May 17th 1995 – by Christopher Shennan)

“Tailor-made for other people,”

Are the words that touch my mind,

When I think of all the trials

In my life — of the ugly kind.

 

I had felt as if the scissors

had snipped away some part

That was desperately needed,

To fully satisfy my heart.

 

You see, I had found the pattern

That I thought was best for me;

That I thought would suit ambitions

That my inner eye could see.

 

The pattern of my future life,

And the cloth from which it was made,

Would have to fit the image

Of the plans that I had laid.

 

But then, when the cutting started,

And the pattern soon took form,

I knew it would never fit me;

I wished that I’d never been born.

 

So I cried to God, my Tailor,

And complained that the suit He’d made

Fell sadly short of the fashion,

In colour, in shape, in grade.

 

He replied, “You’ve been mistaken

And deluded in your thoughts.

Your life was the cloth I needed —

With my own blood it was bought.

 

“You are not your own. I fashioned

Each contour, each colour, each line,

For the needs of other people —

For a purpose truly Mine.

 

“You’ve been tailor-made for others,

Not to satisfy your whim;

And I’ve made your life on purpose

So its light will ne’er grow dim.

Check out my books at: My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

Picture by Joanne Shennan – used with permission