October 15, 2025 • 35 mins
Unity doesn’t erase differences—it celebrates them. In this episode, Allen & Stacy Jo explore how God designed the Body of Christ to function with unique gifts moving in harmony. Whether you’re navigating marriage dynamics, church roles, or leadership teams, learn how to trade comparison and criticism for collaboration and honor.
We cover:
- 1 Corinthians 12 and the power of diverse gifts
- Turning tension into productive teamwork
- Why hidden roles are often indispensable
- Practical rhythms: celebrate > compare, honor out loud, work in harmony
- Real-life stories (yes, even a paint-roller saga 😀)
Scriptures:
1 Corinthians 12:4–7 • Romans 12:6 • Colossians 3:12–14 • Matthew 11:29–30 • Romans 8:6
Reflection Questions:
- Which differences in your home/team have you labeled as irritations that might actually be strengths?
- Who can you honor out loud this week?
- What gift has God given you to serve the common good?
Weekly Challenge:
Identify one person (spouse, friend, teammate) and tell them the specific gift you see in them. Speak life.
If this helped, subscribe, leave a 5⭐ review, and share it with someone who needs encouragement in unity and teamwork.
When you invest in His Kingdom, He brings the increase.
Keywords: Body of Christ, unity in diversity, spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians 12, Christian marriage, Christian leadership, church teamwork, biblical unity, honoring others, collaboration, Colossians 3, Romans 12, Christian podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey friends.
Welcome back to FaithfullyInvested, where we uncover God's
blueprint for LA leadership,marriage, and mission.
I'm Allen, and this is mystunning wife.
(01:03):
I'm Stacy Jo, and we, we are soglad you're here with us today.
You know, Allen, I, I, I wasthinking about the last time.
That we tried to do a DIYproject.
Do.
Do you remember that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Here we go.
Remember that Love keeps norecord of wrongs.
My love.
(01:24):
Yes, but you know, friends, notto boast on me, but I have been
gifted in many areas.
I've been very, I'm verygrateful to the Lord to be
gifted.
However, interior painting withmy dear babycakes here is not
one that I ever care to revisitever justifiably, you know, I
(01:47):
mean, I've painted many rooms,I've painted many living rooms,
bedrooms, what have you, and Ido have some substantial
artistic ability, you know,those bulbs, those Christmas
bulbs that I do, you know?
Very cool.
Right?
Very cool.
So now I'm, that's not a talentthat I've been given, right?
But just let me.
Let me say this kindly.
(02:07):
As a man who's, who's paintedmuch, there's a certain order
that must be followed.
And admittedly, uh, this is onearea that I can be substantially
picky.
Uh, one might say obsessive.
Yeah.
Uh, yeah.
Yeah.
Might be a little obsess.
One obsessive, yeah.
Might say obsessive honey bunnymight say obsessive.
(02:30):
I might get a little obsessiveabout the order in which
painting interior or exteriorpainting must be done.
Uh, we're, we're proof that, uh.
That when two parts of the bodyof Christ come together, uh, the
walls might look different or,uh.
It's also proved that sometimesjust let Allen do the painting.
(02:52):
Uh, that statement alonedesignates that.
Um, I need some, I have room forimprovement, let's say.
Definitely need room forimprovement progress, not
perfection, but I'll say thatthe paint job looks fabulous.
It does, babe.
Any Anyway.
Yeah.
We're, uh, we're getting into,uh, strengths and weaknesses,
right babe?
(03:12):
You know, um, yeah, yeah.
My love.
Um, you know, our, our strengthsand our weaknesses should never
cancel each other out.
They actually, you know, theyshould compliment one another,
but I'm happy to actually stepback and let you, uh, take care
of all the painting in thehouse.
And you're probably good rightnow for, I don't know, another
year or so.
Another year.
I just found out I have a yearwith these.
(03:34):
We love these colors.
These colors are wonderful.
I love the living room.
I'm getting a little tired ofthe turquoise blue though, I'm
just saying.
Anyway.
Uh.
Anyway, today's help me anyway.
Uh, that's the talk, that's theheart of today's conversation is
one body, many parts, unity anddiversity.
(03:57):
Yeah.
And you know, here's thechallenge in marriages and
churches and in leadershipteams, you know, we're always.
Going to be confronted withdifferences.
Yeah.
I mean, that's part of life.
But instead of celebrating thosedifferences as God's intentional
design, too often we fall intothe trap of comparing or
(04:18):
competing or less ized,criticizing, you know, and we
start to see people who aredifferent from us as obstacles
instead of allies.
Yeah.
Comparison's, a danger, aslippery slope, I'd say.
True.
Very much is, and oftentimes weblame that on our, our fallible
human condition, right?
(04:39):
Mm-hmm.
But um, before we go too muchfurther for clarity, we are not
advocating the whole DEInonsense, right?
We're not doing that.
We believe, uh, that the bestperson for the job is the one
who, uh, has the highest meritto get the job done right the
first time.
Mm-hmm.
But we also believe in the powerof mentoring leadership.
(05:01):
Oh, yeah.
Yes.
Mentoring leaders.
Definitely something to be said,said for mentoring leadership.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't take a rocketscientist to know that our
culture is substantiallydifferent, but it's vital for
all of us to understand that,uh, our, in our Christ following
journey to, to know that God didnot design us, uh, to be drones
(05:24):
or clones.
I'm so glad I'm not a drone.
I am very glad that noteveryone's like me.
That, how boring would that be,right?
Yeah.
But the Apostle Paul reminds usin 1 Corinthians 12 verses 4-7.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, now there are a variety ofgifts, but the same spirit, uh,
(05:47):
there are a variety ofministries, but the same Lord,
uh, there are a variety ofeffects, but the same God who
works all things in all people.
But each one is given themanifestation of the spirit for
the common good of the team.
Yeah.
Amen.
You know, that fires me upbecause I actually lived that
(06:11):
out.
I if, if we actually lived thatout, we'd see churches,
families, and businessesflourish like never before.
You know, each of us using ourGod-given gifts for the benefit
of the whole team.
And yes, I know you roll youreyes anytime I say this, but
teamwork really does make thedream work.
(06:32):
Even if it sounds cliche, it'sstill true.
Yeah.
And it's not, I don't roll.
I don't disagree with that.
Yeah.
That statement as a whole, the,the context of the statement
that teamwork, when we, when webring it, it, it takes a team to
move the dream forward.
But I just, in the industry I'vebeen in and the company I've
been, that's a big saying with,with uh, and.
(06:55):
Team teamwork makes the dream.
And I've just heard it so much.
And anyway, uh, there's, um,moving on.
Uh, anyway.
Anyway, uh, something that, thatwe've learned along the way is
that no one person is an islandand solutions are found.
Within the team, truly, right?
(07:16):
No one person is an island, andsolutions are found within the
team unless you are driving,write that down, right?
Um, sometimes we gotta move pastconflict into compliment.
Uh, we're all different, but howcan we use our differences to
benefit the team?
I like what Paul said when hesaid, our focus should not be on
(07:40):
our differences, but how thosedifferences work for the common
good of the team.
Well, exactly.
I mean, the beauty of God'sdesign is that our differences
were never meant to divide us.
They were meant to complete us.
Yes.
And the challenges come.
I see the challenges in twoparts.
First, we need to recognize thatour talents, whatever they may
(08:02):
be, they are gifts from God.
They're not something that wemanufactured on our own, right.
And second, we need to learn howto honor those differences.
And choose collaboration overconflict.
Yeah.
Because when we do that, youknow, the body of Christ
functions the way it was meantto many parts, but one body
(08:22):
moving in unity towards the samepurpose.
Absolutely.
Right?
Yeah.
On that's what I'm talkingabout.
Yeah.
So we know that this is, thisisn't always easy.
No.
Most often it's not easy.
Most often it's not easy.
Uh, and in leadership, uh.
(08:43):
Leadership isn't easy.
We'll just, just throw that outthere.
There.
Leadership isn't easy.
Leadership done the right wayisn't easy.
But I like what you said aboutlearning to honor each other's
differences.
Mm-hmm.
Learning to honor each other'sdifferences.
We have to.
Right.
We, we absolutely have to.
We.
Truth and love, you know, wehave to, uh, and we, and we move
(09:04):
forward.
And, uh, we, I think we talkedabout this this morning as how,
uh, in networking, I'm not thenetworking kind of guy.
Mm-hmm.
I'm, but, but I'm to the, we're,we're to the point and, and our,
our different in our ministrywhere, where I have to be.
Mm-hmm.
I gotta get out there where,where the people are to, to get
(09:24):
the word out for Right.
For, um.
For our recovery ministry.
And, uh, and I and I, HoneyBunny, she knows all about
networking.
I've said to people, I was like,oh, that's my wife.
She's the networking queen.
She knows everybody.
And if she doesn't and ifthere's someone she doesn't
know, someone she does know,knows that somebody that you
need to know and, uh, oh yeah,that's six degrees of
(09:46):
separation, you know?
Right, right.
So, but uh, so.
So solutions are foul within theteam.
Yeah.
I was like, babe, I don't knowhow to do that.
I've never had to do that.
Mm-hmm.
And it, it's, it's getting outof my, and it's bringing me
outta my comfort zone.
And every time I, I've beenpried out of my comfort zone,
(10:07):
great things happen.
So.
I guess I should be lookingforward to networking events.
You should.
Most definitely.
Uh, but, uh, all this reminds meyour, your comment on learning
to, to honor each other'sdifferences.
Reminds me of the never elusiveMatthew 17 quote, where Jesus
(10:28):
said, take my yoke upon you andlearn from me.
Mm-hmm.
The enemy of our souls, youknow.
We all have an enemy of oursouls.
We all have an enemy that wantsto bind us and, and hold us
back.
And, and, and he does that basedon our beliefs.
And he would have us believe andsee our differences as
(10:48):
burdensome blockades.
And that's an absolute lie.
From the depths of hell, butthat's, that's what he wants us
to believe.
So he wants us in conflict.
He wants us in chaos, but weserve a God of order.
Jesus and the Holy Spiritencourage us to release that
burdensome lie to him and yokeup with him and learn from him,
(11:12):
him being Jesus.
And, and that's what I'm talkingabout.
Yeah.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me.
From my yoke is easy.
He says, and my burden is light.
And when we decide to go his wayand we get the life and the
peace that we're searching for'cause aren't, aren't.
Aren't we searching for life andpeace?
(11:33):
Yes.
Well, I would hope that we are.
Yeah.
So I know that I looked for lifeand I look for peace in all the
wrong places, and I looked forlove in all the wrong places.
And that's a country song bysomebody that was very popular
in the seventies and earlyeighties.
But anyway, I think what Lookingfor love and all the, I don't
remember who's saying it.
I think it might be EddieRabbit.
(11:54):
I could be wrong on that.
Oh, I think, I think you mightbe right.
But anyway, thanks.
K 1 0 5.
From my mom's clock radio at14157 Western Reserve Road.
Anyway, uh, but uh, my point isthat we were, if you're looking
for life in peace, his name isJesus.
Yeah.
And, uh, Paul writes on this inRomans and he says, to, to live
(12:15):
by the flesh is death, but tolive by the spirit capital S
Holy Spirit is life and peace,and we're searching for life and
peace.
So as, as we can, and we canattest that our differences show
up daily.
Absolutely.
So, you know, so we get it, butuh, I am more of a get it done
(12:40):
sort of guy's.
I like to, no, I like to getthings done's.
So I have, I have seriousplanning tendencies, but, uh,
I'm, I'm a get it done kind ofguy.
And sta Stacy Joe, she's more ofa prioritizing planner.
Who, uh, yeah, who finds, whofinds benefit through
processing.
Like, I like to make a list andthen I might make a second list,
(13:03):
right?
To check the first one.
Um, and that's just how Godwired me, right?
And I process things better whenI, when I slow down, when I
write it out and when I reallythink about it, right?
I might book a room and then Imight not.
And then, and then, because Ifind a better deal, she says,
well, that's it.
I might, I might book a room.
Yeah.
And, and then I'll, and thatused to aggravate the crap out
(13:23):
of me.
And then I will look, you know,10 other places she will.
And then I will eventually booka room.
By the end of the week, theroom's booked and she's found a
heck of a deal.
But in the beginning, uh, backin, uh.
When we got together, it used toaggravate me bad and I'm like,
you didn't book it yet?
Come on, man.
Yeah.
But at the end of the day or, orthe week, you know?
(13:46):
Yeah.
It's done.
It's done well.
Yeah.
And I used to feel guilty aboutthat.
Yeah.
Like, you know, as if I wasn'tfast enough or decisive enough,
but.
You know, over time I'verealized that that's not really
a weakness, it's a strength andit's saved us some money.
In the long run, it's, it'sprobably saved us a gang of
money, but God has, God'screated me to really think
(14:06):
deeply and to weigh things, toorganize and to that really
balances and that balances ourmarriage out and even our
ministry.
But it's so easy to labeldifferences as irritations, but.
Like you just said, but when youstop and you recognize that
those differences are actuallyGod-given strengths.
(14:27):
It changes everything andinstead of butting heads, we can
actually lock arms.
Yeah.
And we do, and we do, we lockarms and we've gotten a lot
better.
I've, I, we've both grown inthat area for sure.
Uh, and I, I can say that, uh,it, it's better when we
appreciate, uh, when Iappreciate your entrepreneurial
prowess.
You definitely got it.
(14:48):
You were, you mentioned a couplepodcasts, a couple episodes ago
that, uh, uh, you were, you wereborn.
It was a, you were born withthat gift of, of
entrepreneurial, entrepreneurialspirit.
Yeah.
Um, and I used to get impatientabout that, but, you know, not
so much anymore.
I just like, just let her go.
Just let her do what she's gonnado.
It's gonna be good at the end ofthe week.
(15:10):
But yeah.
So enter the challenge, seeingeach other's God-given strengths
as gifts, not as annoyances.
Right.
That's a lesson for the day.
Right.
So I recall and, uh, there'sdifferent ways to do things.
And I recall my dear mother backin the day when I was a child,
she always used to say, uh,there's more than one way to
(15:31):
skin a Cat.
Allen Layne.
Yeah.
And I, and while I, while thatwas quite a gruesome statement,
I'm like, more than one way is.
Skin a cat?
Are we skinning cats?
Where are, where are we?
skinning cats.
I don't want to go there.
Why?
I don't want to.
I, yeah.
Anyway, my, my family used tosay that too.
(15:53):
Yeah.
I don't know if that's an Ohiothing or what, but I don't know.
But my family used to say ittoo, and I always thought, what
in the world with, like you,there's who's skinning cats and
what does that have to do withanything?
Right.
But it just popped as we were.
Putting this together justpopped in my head.
There's more than one way toskin a cat, a la Yeah.
You know, and she must, and Iremember her saying it like that
(16:13):
and using my middle name.
She, uh, she must have been alittle upset at the time, but,
uh, but even as gruesome of astatement as it is, uh, it seems
applicable here because there'smore than one way to get from
start to finish, you know?
Yeah.
And it's, and there's, uh, justbecause, um.
Your way's different doesn'tmean that it's wrong.
Right?
Just because your teammate, uh,that, that guy at work, just
(16:36):
because his way's differentdoesn't mean it's, it's wrong.
Right.
You know, there's more than oneway to get from A to B.
Just'cause I lit the dishwasherdifferent than you doesn't mean
it's wrong.
I got over that.
That's good.
I'm just happy someone elseloaded the dishwasher, you know?
But as long as it aligns and,and you know.
As long as it aligns with God'shigher and greater ways.
(16:57):
Yeah, I'm all about it.
Let's roll, baby.
Okay, well let's go.
Well, let's move on, but.
You know, seriously the sametruth applies in church.
Maybe you're a behind the sceneskind of person and, and you've
convinced yourself, well, Idon't sing and I don't preach,
so I must not matter.
And that is a straight lie fromthe enemy.
(17:17):
Yeah.
You know, the kingdom of Goddoesn't work that way.
You know, every role isessential.
Every role is essential.
The person greeting at the doorwith a smile is the first
impression to Jesus that someonesees when they walk in.
That's it.
And the one quietly intercedingin prayer is literally fighting
spiritual battles.
Yeah.
That others may never see.
(17:38):
Right.
And even the faithful hands thatare setting that set up the
chairs or make sure that those,uh, tithing envelopes are in the
backs of the chairs.
You know, they're preparing thespaces where God's present will.
Presence will be experienced.
Absolutely.
And you know, Paul, when Paultalks about the body of Christ
in 1 Corinthians 12, he makes itvery clear that no part is less
(18:01):
valuable or important than theother.
The hidden parts.
The hidden parts are oftenindispensable.
Yeah.
You can't see, you can't see thewheels of a clock, you can't see
them.
Right.
But if they didn't.
Operate properly.
The clock's not gonna tell youthe time.
Right.
(18:21):
I mean, granted, we're in adigital age now, but I'm going
back to the old days, you know?
Right.
And I'm, and on, on that sameline.
And I'm not saying the spiritdropped, the WWE on my, on my
mind right now.
Maybe not on my heart, but, uh,on my mind, you, they have a, a
massive show.
It's, it's real, but.
I, I had a, uh, a great friendback in Ohio.
(18:44):
Mm-hmm.
Shout out to Bob Hacker.
Yep.
Um, if you're listening, thanks.
But he was a stage manager forWWE for a while.
Yeah.
And his, his sons, uh, Kyle andBobby were, were with him.
And, and I had the opportunityto meet up with Bob and, and,
uh, a couple of times while hewas down here in Florida setting
up stage.
And, you know.
(19:06):
And the work that goes on to setup that show so that those,
those amazing athletes can goout and do their, do their,
their dance and do their, their,uh.
Do their shows.
It's real.
Do their to go out and do whatthey do and they, and they're
the best at it.
(19:26):
Yeah.
Uh, but there's a lot of behindthe scenes workers and the, the
guys, the talent as they'reknown, they, they can't do it
without the guys behind thescenes setting it up.
Mm-hmm.
Making it happen.
Yeah.
You know, so, and if it wasn'tfor the talent, then the guys
behind the scenes wouldn't havea job, you know?
Yeah.
So it's, uh, so it take, ittakes a, it takes a village to
(19:47):
make things happen.
And when we step into ourGod-given assignments, no matter
how visible or how invisiblethey may seem, the, the church,
'cause we were talking about thechurch.
Mm-hmm.
Before we started talking aboutwwe.
Sorry, but the, but the churchflourishes or wwe, no
comparison.
No comparison there.
But it's not about being seen,it's about being faithful.
(20:09):
So if you've ever feltoverlooked or insignificant, so
hear me on this, you are vital.
You are called, and you arenecessary for the body of Christ
to function in the way that Goddesigned it.
Absolutely.
And there's no two ways aboutit.
You are essential.
You are absolutely.
And every, every part of theteam matters.
(20:31):
Mm-hmm.
You matter.
Uh, and in leadership teams,it's the same story.
If everyone was a visionary, butnobody liked the details,
nothing would ever get finished.
Mm-hmm.
And vice versa.
If everyone loved details buthad no vision, we'd ha we'd be
really organized.
We'd be a greatly organized teamgoing.
(20:52):
Nowhere.
Right.
We gotta have vision details andit all comes together.
Every puzzle has a specificplace for each piece.
Mm-hmm.
Just the same.
We're all part of one body, thebody of Christ.
Um, we all have a role to play.
In his plan.
And I, I like what our pastorsays.
(21:13):
Big shout out to, to Pastor ToddMazingo, and, and Jan Mazingo.
Uh, but pastor of Revive Churchof Revive Church right here in
Stuart, Florida.
Florida.
Um.
But I love what our pastor says.
He relates, uh, to how, uh, if,if we, we always, we
underestimate our pinky toe.
Yeah.
Until we find the coffee table.
(21:35):
Right?
Likewise, how off balances wouldyou be if you were missing one
big toe?
Uh, you don't really know whatyou got until it's gone.
Oh, there's another song.
That's a great song, man.
Don't know what you got.
Damn.
It's cow.
Anyhow, she's the singer.
See, I rely on her for singingand, and I'll, I'll write and
(21:59):
speak.
Oh, well, let's move on because,you know, we do have some
solutions, some practical steps.
Yeah, we have more than bantertoday, right?
But, but what do we do?
You know, how do we flipcollaboration over conflict to
actually embrace unity?
Well, this week we got threepractical steps, and the first
one is we want to celebrate.
(22:20):
Instead of compare.
Yeah, celebrate.
And that's a, uh, the companythat I, that I work with, uh,
that's a big, that's one of ouroperating principles.
Celebrate your team often.
So instead of wishing that youhad someone else's gift, thank
God for the gift that he's givenyou sure.
Celebrate the differences ofyour spouse, of, of your church,
(22:43):
of your team, and, and just.
How, how does, maybe you have a,a weakness there and, but who
has a strength that couldcompliment that weakness?
And what is your strength thatcompliments someone else's
weakness?
It's about working together as ateam.
You know, that's good.
Leadership is, is all aboutcollaboration, a culture of
(23:06):
collaboration.
Great teams collaborate.
And, uh, yeah, great teamscollaborate and I, I love what
Paul writes in, in Romans 12:6when he reminds us that we have
gifts according to the gracegiven us.
Mm-hmm According to the gracegiven us.
God has given us specific gifts,uh, and we need to exercise the
(23:26):
gifts that he's given usaccordingly.
For sure.
And then, you know, honor outloud.
Did, did you just say For sure?
I said for sure.
For sure, like totally, totallyour valley girl days.
But, but no, seriously, butthen, you know, honor, honor out
loud honor people.
(23:48):
Don't just appreciate someonesilently.
Yeah, but actually say it, youknow, tell your spouse, babe.
I love the way that you see thedetails I miss, and that is so
true because I do love how yousee the details.
I miss.
Sometimes, sometimes, and it'sgotten better because I bring
(24:09):
up, I bring up those details ina much more productive and
positive manner these days.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
But, or, or tell your team, youknow, I'm so glad that, that you
catch the things that I mayoverlook.
Or tell your kids, Hey, youknow, you're really doing a
great job in school, right?
Or you did a great job oncleaning your room.
(24:29):
Right?
You know, or, thank you forloading the, thank you for
loading the dishwasher, right?
I don't know why I'm on thedishwasher today, but for some
reason no, you, you are ahyperfocused on the dishwasher.
I don't know why, but, but, um.
Um, but yeah, honor out loud,you know, don't, don't just
appreciate them.
Actually tell them that, howmuch you appreciate them, right.
(24:49):
And what you appreciate aboutthem.
Yeah.
Be vocal about that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So number three is work togetherin harmony.
Unity doesn't mean conformityand it doesn't mean uniformity.
Unity means.
Harmony, like an orchestra.
A trumpet doesn't sound likeviolin, obviously.
(25:10):
Right?
But when they, but when theyeach play their role, blammo...
beautiful music flows throughthe team.
Mm.
And we could bring it all downto this.
Regardless of our differences inChrist, we are one.
Yeah.
Under and in his authority, weare one.
We are the body of Christ.
(25:31):
And Paul accentuates this inColossians 3:12-14, where he,
where he writes, so those whohave been chosen by God, holy
and beloved.
Let's just pause there.
Did you know friends?
Did you know that you as yourchosen by your creator, that you
(25:53):
are who?
And beloved.
So holy and beloved chosen, puton the heart of compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness,and patience bearing with one
another and forgiving eachother.
Wow.
I'm big on forgiveness.
(26:14):
We are big on forgiveness.
Yeah.
'cause forgiveness so importantkeeps the team moving in
harmony.
Yeah.
We're there, there will beconflict, but how do we navigate
through that conflict?
Mm-hmm.
Forgiveness is a great way to, agreat place to start.
Paul goes on to say whoever hasa complaint against anyone, just
(26:34):
as the Lord forgave you.
So also should you, beyond allthings.
Put on love, which is theperfect bond of unity.
Yeah.
And sometimes in marriage, thevery gifts that we admired and
fell in love with during thedating season, um, can start to
(26:55):
rub us the wrong way once we'reliving in that day to day
married life.
No comment.
But here's the thing.
When we, when we actually let goof a selfless perspective, a
selfish perspective, I shouldsay selfish perspective.
Selfish perspective.
Wanna hold on to that selflessperspective, correct.
The selfish perspective, tight.
(27:17):
And we ask God to help us seethrough his eyes.
We actually start to recognizethose differences.
Were never meant to divide us.
Right?
Um, they were actually designedto compliment one another right?
And work together for ourgreater good, all according to
his will and his beautiful gracefilled plan.
(27:38):
That's right.
So, you know what, onceattracted us, can still complete
us.
If we see it through God'sgrace, not that we would
complete each other, but thathis will and his way, how he's
created us.
Mm-hmm.
How he works through us,completes us.
Correct.
Uh, not that we're, we want to,we want to not go back to Jerry
(27:58):
McGuire and the whole you, youcomplete me thing.
'cause the only one whocompletes any one of us.
Is Jesus Christ, the Holy Spiritand, and Father God.
Thank you for clarifying that.
Let's be very clear about that.
Yes, thank you for clarifyingthat.
Right on.
I'm just saying so, so what doyou think might happen?
(28:19):
If we shifted our perspectivefrom our abilities and we reset
our zeroes and we wholeheartedlysought to approve, uh, to
improve our living environmentsthrough selfless collaboration,
not selfish collaboration,selfless collaboration.
Well, I, you know, we would beliving in a totally different
(28:40):
society if that were the case.
Yeah.
Um, we would be pulling togetherinstead of pushing apart and.
The wait.
That sounds like something thatJesus might do.
That sounds like something thathe did and that he encourages us
to do.
Pulling together, right.
In unity.
Right, right.
Yeah.
So embrace our differences.
(29:01):
It's about embracing ourdifferences and uh, and letting
our creator use positivelyproductive tension to stretch
and strengthen us together.
The adage goes united, we stand.
Divided we fall.
Mm-hmm.
And the enemy wants nothing moreto divide us.
(29:21):
That's right.
And in North America,throughout, really throughout
the world.
He's doing a pretty good job ofthat.
Mm-hmm.
But I don't, I've read the endof the book and I, I know we
win.
That's right.
It looks a little bleak rightnow, but revival's coming.
Yeah.
In fact, I would say revival ishere and the spirit capital S is
(29:43):
rising.
That's right.
That's right.
Let's rise with them.
Yeah.
So we wanna leave you, as weclose up this, this episode, we
want to leave you with thesebold takeaways.
You know, unity doesn't erasedifferences.
It celebrates them.
Yeah.
Your unique gifts matter andbelong in your family and your
(30:06):
community, and in the body ofChrist, you're essential.
Remember that You matter.
Right.
And.
Then third, when we honor eachother's strengths and
weaknesses, the whole team growsstronger together.
So embrace and honor eachother's strengths and weaknesses
so that you can grow.
Absolutely.
(30:26):
Yeah.
It's all about growing together.
Mm-hmm.
Um, this week we got a challengefor you.
Shocker.
If you've been here forsurprise, if you've been here
for any time at all.
You know, we always, uh, we, weput out an action item and, and
the challenge for, for this weekis find one person, your spouse,
a friend, uh, a team member atwork, and call out the gift that
(30:48):
you see in them.
Speak life over theiruniqueness.
I just wanna say, I'm gonna, I'mgonna speak life over your
uniqueness right now.
I, I see in you so suchleadership ability and not with
(31:10):
a staunch personality, but withcomedy, with, you know, you have
a comedic side to you thatpeople are starting to see,
right?
And that's a gift.
I mean, it is, that's reallytruly a gift.
It's for you to be able to leadwell and still have, be able to
add humor.
Well, it's so, it's a new gift.
(31:31):
So thank you for that, babe.
And, uh, you're, and sincewe're, since we're thrown out,
you know, speaking lifedeclarations, you, you're.
I knew you were capable of, ofmany things, but you have blown
me away in your entrepreneurial,uh, prowess.
And I don't just say that.
I don't just say that here.
And, uh, and we've, we've talkedon this before, but, but what
(31:54):
you've done, uh, in growing theteam with Freedom support
Solutions and what you've donethrough, uh.
The Association of ChristianBusinesswomen and the, the arms
that you've linked up with, notjust here in Florida, but
nationwide is just impressive.
And that's, and, and, and, uh,take it all back to your, your
(32:15):
personal relationship with JesusChrist and the Father and the
Spirit, and, and I live withher.
And this, this isn't just, thisisn't banter, this is truth.
Your, your faith and your walkwith the Lord is inspiring.
Mm.
And, uh, and, and thank you forthat.
And it's, uh, it's justinspiring.
(32:37):
So, Aw.
And that's, and that's, and, butthat's how we grow together.
That's how we, uh.
And, and this is, and this ishow, if you're having challenges
with your spouse, and, and weface challenges all the time,
folks, and, but this is how we,we call out each other's, uh, we
(32:57):
compliment each other.
We don't complete each other.
We compliment each other and,and we stay close with the Lord.
And that's how we keep growing.
It's, uh, it's all about.
Growing.
Yeah.
And as a married couple, it'sall about growing together with
Jesus as the third chord.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(33:18):
But we do, because we havegotten to a point where we
embrace unity, not just, itdoesn't just build a strong
marriage, but it reflects theheart of Christ.
Yes.
And.
We, we've gotten a whole lotbetter at doing that.
We have, if we're work someprogress like everybody else.
If, if we're, if we're, if whatwe're, if our efforts, one, if
(33:42):
they're not aligned with theLord's will and way, and if
they're not accentuating theheart and the character of
Christ, then quite honestlywe're just spinning wheels,
right?
Yeah.
You know, well, I think up,that's about it for this week.
Think wraps it up.
That's about it for this week.
So, um.
That's, this is what faithfullyinvested is all about.
(34:04):
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and we're, we're here toshare, we're not here to ever
portray perfection.
Uh,'cause there's no perfectionhere except for Christ at the
center of us.
Uh.
But that's what FaithfullyInvest is all about.
Mm-hmm.
Is sharing our experience and,and we hope that you, you grab a
piece of that.
We hope that this speaks, ouronly hope is that this speaks to
(34:27):
you and that you might grabtidbits and, and, um, and that
might help you and, and.
Your relations and Yeah.
And finding unity with yourteam.
Right?
And uh, and it, it all comesback to Jesus.
Amen.
Amen.
So remember, when we invest inhis kingdom, he brings the
(34:49):
increase.
He does.
Amen to that.
We love you all and we'll seeyou all next time on faithfully
invested.
God bless, take care.
God bless.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacey.
Joe, if today's conversationencouraged you, challenged you,
or helped you see your callingmore clearly, don't keep it to
(35:09):
yourself.
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey friends.
Welcome back to FaithfullyInvested, where we uncover God's
blueprint for LA leadership,marriage, and mission.
I'm Allen, and this is mystunning wife.
(01:03):
I'm Stacy Jo, and we, we are soglad you're here with us today.
You know, Allen, I, I, I wasthinking about the last time.
That we tried to do a DIYproject.
Do.
Do you remember that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Here we go.
Remember that Love keeps norecord of wrongs.
My love.
(01:24):
Yes, but you know, friends, notto boast on me, but I have been
gifted in many areas.
I've been very, I'm verygrateful to the Lord to be
gifted.
However, interior painting withmy dear babycakes here is not
one that I ever care to revisitever justifiably, you know, I
(01:47):
mean, I've painted many rooms,I've painted many living rooms,
bedrooms, what have you, and Ido have some substantial
artistic ability, you know,those bulbs, those Christmas
bulbs that I do, you know?
Very cool.
Right?
Very cool.
So now I'm, that's not a talentthat I've been given, right?
But just let me.
Let me say this kindly.
(02:07):
As a man who's, who's paintedmuch, there's a certain order
that must be followed.
And admittedly, uh, this is onearea that I can be substantially
picky.
Uh, one might say obsessive.
Yeah.
Uh, yeah.
Yeah.
Might be a little obsess.
One obsessive, yeah.
Might say obsessive honey bunnymight say obsessive.
(02:30):
I might get a little obsessiveabout the order in which
painting interior or exteriorpainting must be done.
Uh, we're, we're proof that, uh.
That when two parts of the bodyof Christ come together, uh, the
walls might look different or,uh.
It's also proved that sometimesjust let Allen do the painting.
(02:52):
Uh, that statement alonedesignates that.
Um, I need some, I have room forimprovement, let's say.
Definitely need room forimprovement progress, not
perfection, but I'll say thatthe paint job looks fabulous.
It does, babe.
Any Anyway.
Yeah.
We're, uh, we're getting into,uh, strengths and weaknesses,
right babe?
(03:12):
You know, um, yeah, yeah.
My love.
Um, you know, our, our strengthsand our weaknesses should never
cancel each other out.
They actually, you know, theyshould compliment one another,
but I'm happy to actually stepback and let you, uh, take care
of all the painting in thehouse.
And you're probably good rightnow for, I don't know, another
year or so.
Another year.
I just found out I have a yearwith these.
(03:34):
We love these colors.
These colors are wonderful.
I love the living room.
I'm getting a little tired ofthe turquoise blue though, I'm
just saying.
Anyway.
Uh.
Anyway, today's help me anyway.
Uh, that's the talk, that's theheart of today's conversation is
one body, many parts, unity anddiversity.
(03:57):
Yeah.
And you know, here's thechallenge in marriages and
churches and in leadershipteams, you know, we're always.
Going to be confronted withdifferences.
Yeah.
I mean, that's part of life.
But instead of celebrating thosedifferences as God's intentional
design, too often we fall intothe trap of comparing or
(04:18):
competing or less ized,criticizing, you know, and we
start to see people who aredifferent from us as obstacles
instead of allies.
Yeah.
Comparison's, a danger, aslippery slope, I'd say.
True.
Very much is, and oftentimes weblame that on our, our fallible
human condition, right?
(04:39):
Mm-hmm.
But um, before we go too muchfurther for clarity, we are not
advocating the whole DEInonsense, right?
We're not doing that.
We believe, uh, that the bestperson for the job is the one
who, uh, has the highest meritto get the job done right the
first time.
Mm-hmm.
But we also believe in the powerof mentoring leadership.
(05:01):
Oh, yeah.
Yes.
Mentoring leaders.
Definitely something to be said,said for mentoring leadership.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't take a rocketscientist to know that our
culture is substantiallydifferent, but it's vital for
all of us to understand that,uh, our, in our Christ following
journey to, to know that God didnot design us, uh, to be drones
(05:24):
or clones.
I'm so glad I'm not a drone.
I am very glad that noteveryone's like me.
That, how boring would that be,right?
Yeah.
But the Apostle Paul reminds usin 1 Corinthians 12 verses 4-7.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, now there are a variety ofgifts, but the same spirit, uh,
(05:47):
there are a variety ofministries, but the same Lord,
uh, there are a variety ofeffects, but the same God who
works all things in all people.
But each one is given themanifestation of the spirit for
the common good of the team.
Yeah.
Amen.
You know, that fires me upbecause I actually lived that
(06:11):
out.
I if, if we actually lived thatout, we'd see churches,
families, and businessesflourish like never before.
You know, each of us using ourGod-given gifts for the benefit
of the whole team.
And yes, I know you roll youreyes anytime I say this, but
teamwork really does make thedream work.
(06:32):
Even if it sounds cliche, it'sstill true.
Yeah.
And it's not, I don't roll.
I don't disagree with that.
Yeah.
That statement as a whole, the,the context of the statement
that teamwork, when we, when webring it, it, it takes a team to
move the dream forward.
But I just, in the industry I'vebeen in and the company I've
been, that's a big saying with,with uh, and.
(06:55):
Team teamwork makes the dream.
And I've just heard it so much.
And anyway, uh, there's, um,moving on.
Uh, anyway.
Anyway, uh, something that, thatwe've learned along the way is
that no one person is an islandand solutions are found.
Within the team, truly, right?
(07:16):
No one person is an island, andsolutions are found within the
team unless you are driving,write that down, right?
Um, sometimes we gotta move pastconflict into compliment.
Uh, we're all different, but howcan we use our differences to
benefit the team?
I like what Paul said when hesaid, our focus should not be on
(07:40):
our differences, but how thosedifferences work for the common
good of the team.
Well, exactly.
I mean, the beauty of God'sdesign is that our differences
were never meant to divide us.
They were meant to complete us.
Yes.
And the challenges come.
I see the challenges in twoparts.
First, we need to recognize thatour talents, whatever they may
(08:02):
be, they are gifts from God.
They're not something that wemanufactured on our own, right.
And second, we need to learn howto honor those differences.
And choose collaboration overconflict.
Yeah.
Because when we do that, youknow, the body of Christ
functions the way it was meantto many parts, but one body
(08:22):
moving in unity towards the samepurpose.
Absolutely.
Right?
Yeah.
On that's what I'm talkingabout.
Yeah.
So we know that this is, thisisn't always easy.
No.
Most often it's not easy.
Most often it's not easy.
Uh, and in leadership, uh.
(08:43):
Leadership isn't easy.
We'll just, just throw that outthere.
There.
Leadership isn't easy.
Leadership done the right wayisn't easy.
But I like what you said aboutlearning to honor each other's
differences.
Mm-hmm.
Learning to honor each other'sdifferences.
We have to.
Right.
We, we absolutely have to.
We.
Truth and love, you know, wehave to, uh, and we, and we move
(09:04):
forward.
And, uh, we, I think we talkedabout this this morning as how,
uh, in networking, I'm not thenetworking kind of guy.
Mm-hmm.
I'm, but, but I'm to the, we're,we're to the point and, and our,
our different in our ministrywhere, where I have to be.
Mm-hmm.
I gotta get out there where,where the people are to, to get
(09:24):
the word out for Right.
For, um.
For our recovery ministry.
And, uh, and I and I, HoneyBunny, she knows all about
networking.
I've said to people, I was like,oh, that's my wife.
She's the networking queen.
She knows everybody.
And if she doesn't and ifthere's someone she doesn't
know, someone she does know,knows that somebody that you
need to know and, uh, oh yeah,that's six degrees of
(09:46):
separation, you know?
Right, right.
So, but uh, so.
So solutions are foul within theteam.
Yeah.
I was like, babe, I don't knowhow to do that.
I've never had to do that.
Mm-hmm.
And it, it's, it's getting outof my, and it's bringing me
outta my comfort zone.
And every time I, I've beenpried out of my comfort zone,
(10:07):
great things happen.
So.
I guess I should be lookingforward to networking events.
You should.
Most definitely.
Uh, but, uh, all this reminds meyour, your comment on learning
to, to honor each other'sdifferences.
Reminds me of the never elusiveMatthew 17 quote, where Jesus
(10:28):
said, take my yoke upon you andlearn from me.
Mm-hmm.
The enemy of our souls, youknow.
We all have an enemy of oursouls.
We all have an enemy that wantsto bind us and, and hold us
back.
And, and, and he does that basedon our beliefs.
And he would have us believe andsee our differences as
(10:48):
burdensome blockades.
And that's an absolute lie.
From the depths of hell, butthat's, that's what he wants us
to believe.
So he wants us in conflict.
He wants us in chaos, but weserve a God of order.
Jesus and the Holy Spiritencourage us to release that
burdensome lie to him and yokeup with him and learn from him,
(11:12):
him being Jesus.
And, and that's what I'm talkingabout.
Yeah.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me.
From my yoke is easy.
He says, and my burden is light.
And when we decide to go his wayand we get the life and the
peace that we're searching for'cause aren't, aren't.
Aren't we searching for life andpeace?
(11:33):
Yes.
Well, I would hope that we are.
Yeah.
So I know that I looked for lifeand I look for peace in all the
wrong places, and I looked forlove in all the wrong places.
And that's a country song bysomebody that was very popular
in the seventies and earlyeighties.
But anyway, I think what Lookingfor love and all the, I don't
remember who's saying it.
I think it might be EddieRabbit.
(11:54):
I could be wrong on that.
Oh, I think, I think you mightbe right.
But anyway, thanks.
K 1 0 5.
From my mom's clock radio at14157 Western Reserve Road.
Anyway, uh, but uh, my point isthat we were, if you're looking
for life in peace, his name isJesus.
Yeah.
And, uh, Paul writes on this inRomans and he says, to, to live
(12:15):
by the flesh is death, but tolive by the spirit capital S
Holy Spirit is life and peace,and we're searching for life and
peace.
So as, as we can, and we canattest that our differences show
up daily.
Absolutely.
So, you know, so we get it, butuh, I am more of a get it done
(12:40):
sort of guy's.
I like to, no, I like to getthings done's.
So I have, I have seriousplanning tendencies, but, uh,
I'm, I'm a get it done kind ofguy.
And sta Stacy Joe, she's more ofa prioritizing planner.
Who, uh, yeah, who finds, whofinds benefit through
processing.
Like, I like to make a list andthen I might make a second list,
(13:03):
right?
To check the first one.
Um, and that's just how Godwired me, right?
And I process things better whenI, when I slow down, when I
write it out and when I reallythink about it, right?
I might book a room and then Imight not.
And then, and then, because Ifind a better deal, she says,
well, that's it.
I might, I might book a room.
Yeah.
And, and then I'll, and thatused to aggravate the crap out
(13:23):
of me.
And then I will look, you know,10 other places she will.
And then I will eventually booka room.
By the end of the week, theroom's booked and she's found a
heck of a deal.
But in the beginning, uh, backin, uh.
When we got together, it used toaggravate me bad and I'm like,
you didn't book it yet?
Come on, man.
Yeah.
But at the end of the day or, orthe week, you know?
(13:46):
Yeah.
It's done.
It's done well.
Yeah.
And I used to feel guilty aboutthat.
Yeah.
Like, you know, as if I wasn'tfast enough or decisive enough,
but.
You know, over time I'verealized that that's not really
a weakness, it's a strength andit's saved us some money.
In the long run, it's, it'sprobably saved us a gang of
money, but God has, God'screated me to really think
(14:06):
deeply and to weigh things, toorganize and to that really
balances and that balances ourmarriage out and even our
ministry.
But it's so easy to labeldifferences as irritations, but.
Like you just said, but when youstop and you recognize that
those differences are actuallyGod-given strengths.
(14:27):
It changes everything andinstead of butting heads, we can
actually lock arms.
Yeah.
And we do, and we do, we lockarms and we've gotten a lot
better.
I've, I, we've both grown inthat area for sure.
Uh, and I, I can say that, uh,it, it's better when we
appreciate, uh, when Iappreciate your entrepreneurial
prowess.
You definitely got it.
(14:48):
You were, you mentioned a couplepodcasts, a couple episodes ago
that, uh, uh, you were, you wereborn.
It was a, you were born withthat gift of, of
entrepreneurial, entrepreneurialspirit.
Yeah.
Um, and I used to get impatientabout that, but, you know, not
so much anymore.
I just like, just let her go.
Just let her do what she's gonnado.
It's gonna be good at the end ofthe week.
(15:10):
But yeah.
So enter the challenge, seeingeach other's God-given strengths
as gifts, not as annoyances.
Right.
That's a lesson for the day.
Right.
So I recall and, uh, there'sdifferent ways to do things.
And I recall my dear mother backin the day when I was a child,
she always used to say, uh,there's more than one way to
(15:31):
skin a Cat.
Allen Layne.
Yeah.
And I, and while I, while thatwas quite a gruesome statement,
I'm like, more than one way is.
Skin a cat?
Are we skinning cats?
Where are, where are we?
skinning cats.
I don't want to go there.
Why?
I don't want to.
I, yeah.
Anyway, my, my family used tosay that too.
(15:53):
Yeah.
I don't know if that's an Ohiothing or what, but I don't know.
But my family used to say ittoo, and I always thought, what
in the world with, like you,there's who's skinning cats and
what does that have to do withanything?
Right.
But it just popped as we were.
Putting this together justpopped in my head.
There's more than one way toskin a cat, a la Yeah.
You know, and she must, and Iremember her saying it like that
(16:13):
and using my middle name.
She, uh, she must have been alittle upset at the time, but,
uh, but even as gruesome of astatement as it is, uh, it seems
applicable here because there'smore than one way to get from
start to finish, you know?
Yeah.
And it's, and there's, uh, justbecause, um.
Your way's different doesn'tmean that it's wrong.
Right?
Just because your teammate, uh,that, that guy at work, just
(16:36):
because his way's differentdoesn't mean it's, it's wrong.
Right.
You know, there's more than oneway to get from A to B.
Just'cause I lit the dishwasherdifferent than you doesn't mean
it's wrong.
I got over that.
That's good.
I'm just happy someone elseloaded the dishwasher, you know?
But as long as it aligns and,and you know.
As long as it aligns with God'shigher and greater ways.
(16:57):
Yeah, I'm all about it.
Let's roll, baby.
Okay, well let's go.
Well, let's move on, but.
You know, seriously the sametruth applies in church.
Maybe you're a behind the sceneskind of person and, and you've
convinced yourself, well, Idon't sing and I don't preach,
so I must not matter.
And that is a straight lie fromthe enemy.
(17:17):
Yeah.
You know, the kingdom of Goddoesn't work that way.
You know, every role isessential.
Every role is essential.
The person greeting at the doorwith a smile is the first
impression to Jesus that someonesees when they walk in.
That's it.
And the one quietly intercedingin prayer is literally fighting
spiritual battles.
Yeah.
That others may never see.
(17:38):
Right.
And even the faithful hands thatare setting that set up the
chairs or make sure that those,uh, tithing envelopes are in the
backs of the chairs.
You know, they're preparing thespaces where God's present will.
Presence will be experienced.
Absolutely.
And you know, Paul, when Paultalks about the body of Christ
in 1 Corinthians 12, he makes itvery clear that no part is less
(18:01):
valuable or important than theother.
The hidden parts.
The hidden parts are oftenindispensable.
Yeah.
You can't see, you can't see thewheels of a clock, you can't see
them.
Right.
But if they didn't.
Operate properly.
The clock's not gonna tell youthe time.
Right.
(18:21):
I mean, granted, we're in adigital age now, but I'm going
back to the old days, you know?
Right.
And I'm, and on, on that sameline.
And I'm not saying the spiritdropped, the WWE on my, on my
mind right now.
Maybe not on my heart, but, uh,on my mind, you, they have a, a
massive show.
It's, it's real, but.
I, I had a, uh, a great friendback in Ohio.
(18:44):
Mm-hmm.
Shout out to Bob Hacker.
Yep.
Um, if you're listening, thanks.
But he was a stage manager forWWE for a while.
Yeah.
And his, his sons, uh, Kyle andBobby were, were with him.
And, and I had the opportunityto meet up with Bob and, and,
uh, a couple of times while hewas down here in Florida setting
up stage.
And, you know.
(19:06):
And the work that goes on to setup that show so that those,
those amazing athletes can goout and do their, do their,
their dance and do their, their,uh.
Do their shows.
It's real.
Do their to go out and do whatthey do and they, and they're
the best at it.
(19:26):
Yeah.
Uh, but there's a lot of behindthe scenes workers and the, the
guys, the talent as they'reknown, they, they can't do it
without the guys behind thescenes setting it up.
Mm-hmm.
Making it happen.
Yeah.
You know, so, and if it wasn'tfor the talent, then the guys
behind the scenes wouldn't havea job, you know?
Yeah.
So it's, uh, so it take, ittakes a, it takes a village to
(19:47):
make things happen.
And when we step into ourGod-given assignments, no matter
how visible or how invisiblethey may seem, the, the church,
'cause we were talking about thechurch.
Mm-hmm.
Before we started talking aboutwwe.
Sorry, but the, but the churchflourishes or wwe, no
comparison.
No comparison there.
But it's not about being seen,it's about being faithful.
(20:09):
So if you've ever feltoverlooked or insignificant, so
hear me on this, you are vital.
You are called, and you arenecessary for the body of Christ
to function in the way that Goddesigned it.
Absolutely.
And there's no two ways aboutit.
You are essential.
You are absolutely.
And every, every part of theteam matters.
(20:31):
Mm-hmm.
You matter.
Uh, and in leadership teams,it's the same story.
If everyone was a visionary, butnobody liked the details,
nothing would ever get finished.
Mm-hmm.
And vice versa.
If everyone loved details buthad no vision, we'd ha we'd be
really organized.
We'd be a greatly organized teamgoing.
(20:52):
Nowhere.
Right.
We gotta have vision details andit all comes together.
Every puzzle has a specificplace for each piece.
Mm-hmm.
Just the same.
We're all part of one body, thebody of Christ.
Um, we all have a role to play.
In his plan.
And I, I like what our pastorsays.
(21:13):
Big shout out to, to Pastor ToddMazingo, and, and Jan Mazingo.
Uh, but pastor of Revive Churchof Revive Church right here in
Stuart, Florida.
Florida.
Um.
But I love what our pastor says.
He relates, uh, to how, uh, if,if we, we always, we
underestimate our pinky toe.
Yeah.
Until we find the coffee table.
(21:35):
Right?
Likewise, how off balances wouldyou be if you were missing one
big toe?
Uh, you don't really know whatyou got until it's gone.
Oh, there's another song.
That's a great song, man.
Don't know what you got.
Damn.
It's cow.
Anyhow, she's the singer.
See, I rely on her for singingand, and I'll, I'll write and
(21:59):
speak.
Oh, well, let's move on because,you know, we do have some
solutions, some practical steps.
Yeah, we have more than bantertoday, right?
But, but what do we do?
You know, how do we flipcollaboration over conflict to
actually embrace unity?
Well, this week we got threepractical steps, and the first
one is we want to celebrate.
(22:20):
Instead of compare.
Yeah, celebrate.
And that's a, uh, the companythat I, that I work with, uh,
that's a big, that's one of ouroperating principles.
Celebrate your team often.
So instead of wishing that youhad someone else's gift, thank
God for the gift that he's givenyou sure.
Celebrate the differences ofyour spouse, of, of your church,
(22:43):
of your team, and, and just.
How, how does, maybe you have a,a weakness there and, but who
has a strength that couldcompliment that weakness?
And what is your strength thatcompliments someone else's
weakness?
It's about working together as ateam.
You know, that's good.
Leadership is, is all aboutcollaboration, a culture of
(23:06):
collaboration.
Great teams collaborate.
And, uh, yeah, great teamscollaborate and I, I love what
Paul writes in, in Romans 12:6when he reminds us that we have
gifts according to the gracegiven us.
Mm-hmm According to the gracegiven us.
God has given us specific gifts,uh, and we need to exercise the
(23:26):
gifts that he's given usaccordingly.
For sure.
And then, you know, honor outloud.
Did, did you just say For sure?
I said for sure.
For sure, like totally, totallyour valley girl days.
But, but no, seriously, butthen, you know, honor, honor out
loud honor people.
(23:48):
Don't just appreciate someonesilently.
Yeah, but actually say it, youknow, tell your spouse, babe.
I love the way that you see thedetails I miss, and that is so
true because I do love how yousee the details.
I miss.
Sometimes, sometimes, and it'sgotten better because I bring
(24:09):
up, I bring up those details ina much more productive and
positive manner these days.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
But, or, or tell your team, youknow, I'm so glad that, that you
catch the things that I mayoverlook.
Or tell your kids, Hey, youknow, you're really doing a
great job in school, right?
Or you did a great job oncleaning your room.
(24:29):
Right?
You know, or, thank you forloading the, thank you for
loading the dishwasher, right?
I don't know why I'm on thedishwasher today, but for some
reason no, you, you are ahyperfocused on the dishwasher.
I don't know why, but, but, um.
Um, but yeah, honor out loud,you know, don't, don't just
appreciate them.
Actually tell them that, howmuch you appreciate them, right.
(24:49):
And what you appreciate aboutthem.
Yeah.
Be vocal about that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So number three is work togetherin harmony.
Unity doesn't mean conformityand it doesn't mean uniformity.
Unity means.
Harmony, like an orchestra.
A trumpet doesn't sound likeviolin, obviously.
(25:10):
Right?
But when they, but when theyeach play their role, blammo...
beautiful music flows throughthe team.
Mm.
And we could bring it all downto this.
Regardless of our differences inChrist, we are one.
Yeah.
Under and in his authority, weare one.
We are the body of Christ.
(25:31):
And Paul accentuates this inColossians 3:12-14, where he,
where he writes, so those whohave been chosen by God, holy
and beloved.
Let's just pause there.
Did you know friends?
Did you know that you as yourchosen by your creator, that you
(25:53):
are who?
And beloved.
So holy and beloved chosen, puton the heart of compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness,and patience bearing with one
another and forgiving eachother.
Wow.
I'm big on forgiveness.
(26:14):
We are big on forgiveness.
Yeah.
'cause forgiveness so importantkeeps the team moving in
harmony.
Yeah.
We're there, there will beconflict, but how do we navigate
through that conflict?
Mm-hmm.
Forgiveness is a great way to, agreat place to start.
Paul goes on to say whoever hasa complaint against anyone, just
(26:34):
as the Lord forgave you.
So also should you, beyond allthings.
Put on love, which is theperfect bond of unity.
Yeah.
And sometimes in marriage, thevery gifts that we admired and
fell in love with during thedating season, um, can start to
(26:55):
rub us the wrong way once we'reliving in that day to day
married life.
No comment.
But here's the thing.
When we, when we actually let goof a selfless perspective, a
selfish perspective, I shouldsay selfish perspective.
Selfish perspective.
Wanna hold on to that selflessperspective, correct.
The selfish perspective, tight.
(27:17):
And we ask God to help us seethrough his eyes.
We actually start to recognizethose differences.
Were never meant to divide us.
Right?
Um, they were actually designedto compliment one another right?
And work together for ourgreater good, all according to
his will and his beautiful gracefilled plan.
(27:38):
That's right.
So, you know what, onceattracted us, can still complete
us.
If we see it through God'sgrace, not that we would
complete each other, but thathis will and his way, how he's
created us.
Mm-hmm.
How he works through us,completes us.
Correct.
Uh, not that we're, we want to,we want to not go back to Jerry
(27:58):
McGuire and the whole you, youcomplete me thing.
'cause the only one whocompletes any one of us.
Is Jesus Christ, the Holy Spiritand, and Father God.
Thank you for clarifying that.
Let's be very clear about that.
Yes, thank you for clarifyingthat.
Right on.
I'm just saying so, so what doyou think might happen?
(28:19):
If we shifted our perspectivefrom our abilities and we reset
our zeroes and we wholeheartedlysought to approve, uh, to
improve our living environmentsthrough selfless collaboration,
not selfish collaboration,selfless collaboration.
Well, I, you know, we would beliving in a totally different
(28:40):
society if that were the case.
Yeah.
Um, we would be pulling togetherinstead of pushing apart and.
The wait.
That sounds like something thatJesus might do.
That sounds like something thathe did and that he encourages us
to do.
Pulling together, right.
In unity.
Right, right.
Yeah.
So embrace our differences.
(29:01):
It's about embracing ourdifferences and uh, and letting
our creator use positivelyproductive tension to stretch
and strengthen us together.
The adage goes united, we stand.
Divided we fall.
Mm-hmm.
And the enemy wants nothing moreto divide us.
(29:21):
That's right.
And in North America,throughout, really throughout
the world.
He's doing a pretty good job ofthat.
Mm-hmm.
But I don't, I've read the endof the book and I, I know we
win.
That's right.
It looks a little bleak rightnow, but revival's coming.
Yeah.
In fact, I would say revival ishere and the spirit capital S is
(29:43):
rising.
That's right.
That's right.
Let's rise with them.
Yeah.
So we wanna leave you, as weclose up this, this episode, we
want to leave you with thesebold takeaways.
You know, unity doesn't erasedifferences.
It celebrates them.
Yeah.
Your unique gifts matter andbelong in your family and your
(30:06):
community, and in the body ofChrist, you're essential.
Remember that You matter.
Right.
And.
Then third, when we honor eachother's strengths and
weaknesses, the whole team growsstronger together.
So embrace and honor eachother's strengths and weaknesses
so that you can grow.
Absolutely.
(30:26):
Yeah.
It's all about growing together.
Mm-hmm.
Um, this week we got a challengefor you.
Shocker.
If you've been here forsurprise, if you've been here
for any time at all.
You know, we always, uh, we, weput out an action item and, and
the challenge for, for this weekis find one person, your spouse,
a friend, uh, a team member atwork, and call out the gift that
(30:48):
you see in them.
Speak life over theiruniqueness.
I just wanna say, I'm gonna, I'mgonna speak life over your
uniqueness right now.
I, I see in you so suchleadership ability and not with
(31:10):
a staunch personality, but withcomedy, with, you know, you have
a comedic side to you thatpeople are starting to see,
right?
And that's a gift.
I mean, it is, that's reallytruly a gift.
It's for you to be able to leadwell and still have, be able to
add humor.
Well, it's so, it's a new gift.
(31:31):
So thank you for that, babe.
And, uh, you're, and sincewe're, since we're thrown out,
you know, speaking lifedeclarations, you, you're.
I knew you were capable of, ofmany things, but you have blown
me away in your entrepreneurial,uh, prowess.
And I don't just say that.
I don't just say that here.
And, uh, and we've, we've talkedon this before, but, but what
(31:54):
you've done, uh, in growing theteam with Freedom support
Solutions and what you've donethrough, uh.
The Association of ChristianBusinesswomen and the, the arms
that you've linked up with, notjust here in Florida, but
nationwide is just impressive.
And that's, and, and, and, uh,take it all back to your, your
(32:15):
personal relationship with JesusChrist and the Father and the
Spirit, and, and I live withher.
And this, this isn't just, thisisn't banter, this is truth.
Your, your faith and your walkwith the Lord is inspiring.
Mm.
And, uh, and, and thank you forthat.
And it's, uh, it's justinspiring.
(32:37):
So, Aw.
And that's, and that's, and, butthat's how we grow together.
That's how we, uh.
And, and this is, and this ishow, if you're having challenges
with your spouse, and, and weface challenges all the time,
folks, and, but this is how we,we call out each other's, uh, we
(32:57):
compliment each other.
We don't complete each other.
We compliment each other and,and we stay close with the Lord.
And that's how we keep growing.
It's, uh, it's all about.
Growing.
Yeah.
And as a married couple, it'sall about growing together with
Jesus as the third chord.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(33:18):
But we do, because we havegotten to a point where we
embrace unity, not just, itdoesn't just build a strong
marriage, but it reflects theheart of Christ.
Yes.
And.
We, we've gotten a whole lotbetter at doing that.
We have, if we're work someprogress like everybody else.
If, if we're, if we're, if whatwe're, if our efforts, one, if
(33:42):
they're not aligned with theLord's will and way, and if
they're not accentuating theheart and the character of
Christ, then quite honestlywe're just spinning wheels,
right?
Yeah.
You know, well, I think up,that's about it for this week.
Think wraps it up.
That's about it for this week.
So, um.
That's, this is what faithfullyinvested is all about.
(34:04):
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and we're, we're here toshare, we're not here to ever
portray perfection.
Uh,'cause there's no perfectionhere except for Christ at the
center of us.
Uh.
But that's what FaithfullyInvest is all about.
Mm-hmm.
Is sharing our experience and,and we hope that you, you grab a
piece of that.
We hope that this speaks, ouronly hope is that this speaks to
(34:27):
you and that you might grabtidbits and, and, um, and that
might help you and, and.
Your relations and Yeah.
And finding unity with yourteam.
Right?
And uh, and it, it all comesback to Jesus.
Amen.
Amen.
So remember, when we invest inhis kingdom, he brings the
(34:49):
increase.
He does.
Amen to that.
We love you all and we'll seeyou all next time on faithfully
invested.
God bless, take care.
God bless.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacey.
Joe, if today's conversationencouraged you, challenged you,
or helped you see your callingmore clearly, don't keep it to
(35:09):
yourself.
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
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