✝️ Introduction: Rethinking “Making a Difference”

We often say, “I want to make a difference.”
It sounds noble — but if we pause and reflect, the word difference actually means to subtract or to separate.

Why would we want to subtract from the world that God created to be whole and good?
Instead, God calls us to be a sum — to add love, add peace, add compassion to every life we touch.

---

➕ The Meaning of Sum and Difference

In mathematics,

• Difference = subtraction, taking away.
• Sum = addition, bringing together.

Spiritually speaking, these meanings are also true.
When we think of ourselves as “different” from others — superior, separate, or better — we create division.
But when we think of ourselves as sums, we add harmony, joy, and value to God’s creation.

We were not made to be a minus in this life.
We were made to be a plus sign (+) a living symbol of addition and blessing.

---

🧂 The Salt of the Earth

Jesus said,

“You are the salt of the earth.”

Salt adds flavor. It makes things come alive.
That is what God intended for us — to add flavor to His creation, not to remove from it.

When we realize that truth, we stop competing and start completing each other.
Man and woman, rich and poor, strong and weak — we are all equal in God’s eyes.
Each of us received gifts from the same loving Father.

If my Father gives me a car and gives my brother a plane,
didn’t we both receive?
The gift may differ, but the giver is the same — and His love is equal.

---

💖 The True Reward

All of us are journeying toward the same destination — to be with God.
That is the final reward, the ultimate sum, the perfect completion.

God tells us,

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you always.”

Even when we fall short or lose our way, His grace adds back what we have lost.
He restores, He multiplies, He completes.

So let us stop saying, “I will make a difference.”
Instead, let us joyfully declare:

“I will make a sum.”

---

🙏 Closing Prayer

Lord, help me to be a sum in this world —
to add love where there is hatred,
to add faith where there is doubt,
to add peace where there is conflict.
Let my life be an addition to Your glory
and a blessing to everyone I meet. Amen.