Tag: Passion

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Life Turns and Sprints Away

Life turns and sprints awayLife turns and sprints away; I often come across quotes worth remembering—not simply because they inspire me, but because they tell me something true. They remind me of the basic truths I need to put into practice, especially when life asks more of me than I feel ready to give.

I think of motivation as the match that starts a campfire. A match provides the spark, but it cannot keep the fire burning. That takes fuel, attention, and effort. A great speaker or a memorable quote can strike the match. The rest is up to us. We must turn inspiration into action and keep adding fuel long after the initial burst of enthusiasm fades.

Dante Lavelli

The quote I have been thinking about lately comes from Dante “Gluefingers” Lavelli: “Life turns and sprints away, and what could you do but follow?”

Lavelli’s words remind me of Paul’s determination: “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark” (Philippians 3:13–14, KJV). I can be grateful for the past without asking it to become my future. There is still work to do, still good to offer, and still room to grow. When life turns, I can trust God for the strength to take the next step—even before I can see where the path will lead.

Lavelli’s life gave him many opportunities to put those words into practice. He played football at Ohio State before serving in the Army during World War II. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, returned home, and went on to a championship career with the Cleveland Browns. Between football seasons, he returned to Ohio State to pursue his degree. After his playing career, the future Hall of Famer operated a small furniture store in Rocky River, Ohio, helping support his wife and three children.

Philippians 3:13–14: “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Transitions

Those transitions could not all have been easy. Each required him to leave something familiar and step into a life he had not yet learned to live.

Ohio State gave him an opportunity, and he took it. The war changed his course, and he answered the call. When the war ended, he began again. When his playing days were over, he built something new.

Each time life turned, Lavelli found a way to move forward.

James 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

I imagine he would have preferred Ohio State’s campus to a battlefield in the Ardennes. The daily demands of running a furniture store surely offered fewer cheers than winning championships with the Browns. Yet each chapter had its purpose. Football brought achievement and recognition. The store helped provide a home and a future for his family. There was dignity in both.

Power in Words

Moving forward does not mean the past was easy to leave behind. It does not mean forgetting what we loved or pretending that what hurt us no longer matters. It means recognizing that we still have a life to live—and that our next chapter deserves our effort, too.

That is what makes Lavelli’s words so powerful to me. Life does not wait for us to feel prepared. Sometimes it opens a door we have long hoped for. Sometimes it closes one we thought would always remain open. We cannot choose every change that comes our way, but we can choose how we meet it.

Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

We can take the next step even before we have all the answers. We can apply what we have learned to unfamiliar circumstances. We can discover that the strength we built in one chapter is exactly what we need in the next.

“Life turns and sprints away.”

I cannot always control its direction or match its pace. But I can keep moving. I can meet the future with courage, curiosity, and a willingness to begin again.

The quote provides the spark. My next step supplies the fuel.

(The inspiration for this post came from the obituary of Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli, dated January 22, 2009)

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When Good Things Become Distractions

When Good Things Become a DistractionNot every distraction is bad. Some of the most dangerous distractions are worthwhile things that slowly consume the attention meant for something else. We do not have to be doing something wrong to find ourselves neglecting what God has called us to do. Sometimes we are simply doing too much of something good.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

Good Things can Compete with One Another.

Family, work, ministry, helping others, church, writing—all worthwhile. But none automatically deserves unlimited time just because it is good. The challenge is deciding how much time to give each activity. The old 20/80 rule is a good guideline. The first 20% of your effort produces 80% of the results. The last 80% of your effort produces the final 20% of the results.

So the question might be: which tasks deserve the final eighty percent, and which don’t? Are there other people who can fine-tune some things while you put your effort into the things God created you for? Does having control supersede accomplishing God’s will?

Luke 10:41–42, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Perfection is an Especially Effective Distraction.

The things God truly puts on your heart require a different strategy. There comes a point when improving something yields diminishing returns. We can expend enormous effort to make something 2% better while leaving something else completely undone. The drive for perfection can reduce the likelihood of real change by causing us to miss the window of opportunity.

A need exists; you want to fill that need, but your desire to execute perfection causes time to escape, and the need goes unfulfilled. Or the need is met too late to be truly helpful.

This reminds me of a story from Kyrgyzstan. A young Christian in a Muslim village saw children playing soccer (football) in an open dirt field. He went to them, helped organize teams, and set up a small village league. While refereeing the games, he would ask the children if they needed anything. Then, during the week, he would get whatever they needed and give it to them the next weekend. This man knew their parents would never ask a Christian for help, but the children were different. It wasn’t long before he and his religion were accepted by the villagers.

Now, in America, we would first have to form a committee to make sure it was the best course of action. We would need rules and, of course, T-shirts. Maybe we would need donations for uniforms and refreshments. Then we would talk with the kids.

Perfection can get in the way of God’s work. God will perfect the outcome; we don’t have to worry about it.

Purpose Requires Periodically Looking up.

Ask: What have I stopped doing because something else has captured all my attention? That is the central question. Do I respond to opportunities by asking God if this is mine to carry, or do I let the world answer that question for me?

Do I ask God what my priorities should be, or do I allow my sense of accomplishment to overshadow what God is trying to do through me?

John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Conclusion

Maybe the question is not simply, “Am I doing something worthwhile?” Perhaps we also need to ask, “Is this what I should be doing right now?” There are countless good things we can do with our lives. Wisdom is knowing which good thing deserves our attention today.

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What Does it Mean to be Alive?

A life worth livingWhat does it mean to be alive? Is being alive the same as living? If you have breath in your lungs, why? God created you for greatness. Are you living up to God’s intent for you?

Isaiah 49:15-16, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Trouble in a Broken World

Troubles come, sometimes in waves. They are a product of a broken world. Sometimes that trouble is self-inflicted; other times it comes out of nowhere. But trouble does not define us; it refines us. It is one of the tools God uses to make us stronger and more relatable. We cannot speak into others’ lives with wisdom we have not earned. Unfortunately, most wisdom is born of suffering. It is regrettable how little we learn in prosperity.

Galatians 1:15, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace.”

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Given all I have been through in my life, including the unimaginable, which I not only survived but also thrived after, I still find my existence a miracle. There are 100 sextillion stars and planets in our known universe, and over eight billion people on this single spinning orb. And I am me, unique, perfect for my purpose, seeing, feeling, thinking, walking, and talking. I am the impossible. Trillions of cells in my body are continually renewed throughout my life, yet somehow I remain me. The new me retains all the attributes of the old me. I keep living. There is a reason for all of this.

Psalm 139:13-14, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”

The Weight of Uniqueness

One of the great lessons from the parable of the talents is the statement “to each according to his ability.” Our lives were not meant to mirror one another. We were always designed to be unique, and with that uniqueness come unique challenges. We tend to treat our challenges as greater than others’ because they are the only ones we have ever known, having lived only within this single life. They are the only challenges we have felt.

Purpose in the Midst of Pain

If every life is unique and purposeful, how do we recognize whether we are truly living according to that purpose? It is a prayerful question, not why this is happening to me, but God, what do you want me to do with what lies before me?

God promises us that we will never experience anything that is not already known to man.

1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”

But they are unique to us. Because we are unique, trouble and temptation affect us in distinct ways. Our experience can be “like” someone else’s, but never the same. We should not view others’ lives as an enviable path, because we don’t know the totality of their existence. We have not lived their life.

The path forward still exists. If you have breath in your lungs, you have purpose. God woke you up this morning because He has something for you to accomplish. You are standing because God wants you here and now. As dark as your life may seem at times, it is a light for someone else down the road.

Your Overcoming Is Someone Else’s Hope

 “Believe that, when you are most unhappy, there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can ease another’s pain, life is not in vain.” ~ Helen Keller

It is not the challenge that gives hope; it is what you do with it that can lead someone to a better life. You are important to the person who is waiting for you in your future, just as someone is going through something that will echo in your life.

Your greatest testimony is not  memorized scripture, but a life that reflects the love of Christ.

Someone else’s survival may one day depend on what you choose to do with your suffering.

Romans 12:13, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.”

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Love, Loss, and What Remains

Love, Loss, and What RemainsLove, Loss, and What Remains. Sometimes, for reasons I don’t always understand, life doesn’t just disappoint—it crashes. Not the hardship we expect or prepare for, but the kind that divides everything into before and after. A moment arrives—a phone call, a diagnosis, a goodbye you didn’t know was final—and life as you knew it vanishes.

What follows is not noise but silence. A black silence. Thought escapes us. The mind, so capable of solving problems and navigating difficulty, simply stops. It has been struck too hard, too suddenly, too completely. There is no immediate path forward, no reason to rise—only the weight of what cannot be undone.

LOVE

The source of this kind of devastation is almost always love.

We can make sense of physical pain. We can measure it, treat it, and endure it. But when something touches the heart—when love is broken, removed, or lost—the damage is different. Love creates attachment, identity, and meaning. When it is taken away, it is not merely a loss; it is disorientation. The mind searches for resolution, but none is to be found.

I would like to say that we heal over time. Sometimes we do. But sometimes we don’t heal completely; we learn to live with what remains. The greater the love, the greater the pain. Not feeling that pain would mean something far worse: that we had never loved deeply.

The privilege of loving carries the possibility of immense pain.

1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

LOSS

I live with that pain. Fifteen years later, it still brings me to tears.

I never want to become the person who forgets—who buries it so deeply that the heart grows numb to its presence. That experience shaped who I am. At one point in my life, it was a driving light. It changed me and made me better.

Yes, this is mine to carry. It is something I never want to lose. Anything this powerful is meant to be remembered. I want that feeling to keep shaping me, not fade into something distant and harmless. When I feel its weight, I understand others’ pain in a way I never could before. What once seemed like it would destroy me has become a source of connection to the rest of humanity. It remains one of the darkest moments of my life. But I survived—and I continue to live.

If love has the power to break us, it also reveals something deeper about how we were made.

God created us to love and be loved. This is not a minor part of who we are—it is central to our design. It is the essence of Christ’s teaching. Love binds us together, gives meaning to our lives, and drives us toward one another. When directed rightly, it changes lives for the better. When withheld or broken, it leaves damage in its wake.

Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

But that damage does not define our worth.

Love lost has a way of making us feel unworthy of love. That is the lie it tells. If we believe it, it pulls us deeper into despair. But the truth stands in direct opposition to that lie: God’s love is not conditional. It is not withdrawn, and it does not fail as human love sometimes does.

1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.”

He is present in the silence. He is present in the pain. Even when we cannot feel it, we are not alone.

WHAT REMAINS

I have come to see pain differently. Not as something to escape or erase, but as evidence. Evidence that something real existed. Evidence that love once took hold. If I had never loved, I would never have known this depth of feeling. That experience, however costly, would be absent from my life.

I would be less for it.

The pain remains, not as something to be feared but as something to be understood. It is part of what makes us human. And, in a way that is difficult to explain yet impossible to ignore, it is also part of what enables us to truly love again.

1 Corinthians 13, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

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Greatness: The Journey from Potential to Purpose

Not the Dreamers, but the doersGreatness. One of the images that haunts me every day of my life is that of the relentless, voracious doer of the impossible. My mind envisions the shadow of greatness; it longs to be in the presence of the world changers. I cannot fully describe the exhilaration of knowing that God has created creatures who have the potential to not only uplift those around them but also, from that nucleus, transform the world. Warriors— that word is not significant enough to define them.

1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

The fantastic part is that each of us was created with that potential. Each of us can burst into the night sky with meaning and purpose, a purpose that drives us to chase dreams beyond our wildest hopes. God made each one of us incredible.

Jeremiah 17:7-8, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear the heat; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

The Definition of Greatness

But we allow the world to redefine us. The world isn’t able to accept who we truly are. It wants to shrink us, mold us into something less. Greatness in others can be intimidating because it reveals raw power. We fear others will use it against us instead of for us.

In each of us, there is that still, small divine voice that pleads with us to unlock the power of our greatness. We can listen to the world and become swallowed up by its petty nature. Living a life of merely existing, never reaching our full potential. Or, we can seek the divine, step outside our comfort zone, and become who we were meant to be.

“Good is the enemy of great, and that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.” – Jim Collins, Good to Great.

Isaiah 58:11, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

The Path to Greatness

Everyone desires greatness until they face the cost. Greatness involves sacrifices: time, rejection, sleep, doubt, anxiety, and pride. To reach true greatness, we must reject society’s narrow view of success, which often centers on money, power, position, or influence. Genuine greatness is characterized by humility, service, and sacrifice. It stems from our God-given passions. Stop depending on worldly success standards and look inward. Are you willing to risk everything for the fire in your soul, the idea you can no longer think about? Always choose the freedom given by Christ over mediocracy. Do what God has put inside you that brings you immense joy. What could you do that you might someday regret leaving behind? You could pursue this forever and still feel fulfilled.

James 2:17, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Don’t Just Be Great, Be a Legend

Do you want to become a legend, not just in name but in impact? It’s not vital that they remember your name, but that they remember who you were. They not only aspire to be like you, but they also want to pass on what you were to the next generation. God has given all of this. It’s yours to accept, not create. But it costs. The return on that investment is eternal presence in the perfection of God.

Don’t just be great—live a legacy. Let your greatness echo through eternity.

 

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To A Warrior Princess, My Undying Gratitude

Warrior PrincessTo my warrior princess, you know who you are. You have changed my life for the better and challenged me to be greater.

Yesterday I talked with a friend from Kyrgyzstan. She is only in her 20s—beautiful, intelligent, and motivated. A Christian, she recently moved alone to another Central Asian country to start a ministry that reflects her faith. She is a warrior for the Kingdom of God. She will make a difference in the world around her.

Romans 10:14-15, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” 

I Stand in Awe.

I stand in awe. The courage. The confidence. The selflessness. All gifts from God’s hand. And I wonder—what could my life have been like if, in my 20s, I had lived with that same boldness?

But here’s the truth: God creates each life uniquely. No purpose is more important than another. Impact doesn’t determine worth. God knows exactly what He is doing.

We are all created with purpose. Whether we cross borders to sow seeds of faith or quietly support a neighbor who feels overlooked, both leave a mark in eternity.

I am an engineer and a computer scientist at heart. Words are not my first language, they do reflect my experiences. Over the years, I’ve met people who will never have the material advantages I’ve had, yet they possess something far greater.

It’s a relentless determination to make a difference—a fire that cannot be bought or taught. It humbles me. I realize how insignificant my own achievements are compared to their faith, courage, and sacrifice.

Gifts

They remind me that God distributes gifts in different ways. He gives some people resources and others resilience. He calls some to build and others to go. Yet He invites all of us to make a difference where we are.

1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

No act is greater than another. Every gift counts. Every act of obedience echoes through eternity

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An Opinion is only a State of Mind.

Christians making ChristiansAn opinion is only a state of mind; it does not predict the future. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines opinion as “a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.” We too often give too much credence to someone’s opinion, including our own. Many of the disagreements I hear are formed when opinions differ.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” — Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning.

Christian Opinion

As a Christian, I think it is time to walk back our opinions. We often take too strong a stand on our emotional state about a subject. The genesis of our opinions is not our knowledge of the future, but environmental elements of our past. We form opinions because of past experiences, cultural, or social influences, media information, peer pressure, group dynamics, personal and emotional bias, education, and personal interest. There are probably many other reasons, but none of these reasons is knowledge of the future.

Colossians 4:6 – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Having a strong opinion about a matter does nothing to make a difference. Making a difference comes from active involvement in relieving the condition you oppose or improving a condition in which you feel a deficit. Telling everyone you meet your opinion only stirs up controversy. Controversy gives birth to anxiety, which fosters conflict.

2 Timothy 2:23-24 – “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil.”

Influencers

We live in a dysfunctional world full of misinformation and half-truths. Millions of people write online articles to create conflict by influencing public opinion. They do this out of greed, not as a public service. The more diversion they can create, the more site traffic they create, the more advertising income they receive. These are not people interested in improving the world. Their goal is to create income with passionate speeches and convoluted logic.

Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

“Tolerance isn’t about not having beliefs. It’s about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.” – Tim Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (2008)

There are legitimate influencers with a true passion for their cause. Some of their causes are misguided and based on sketchy logic, but they are heartfelt. Some influencers take great pains to find the truth and communicate it with an objective view, but it is rare. We are all influenced by the abovementioned reasons; no one is above unconscious influence.

Our Position

Proverbs 18:2 – “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”- John Piper, A Godward Life: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (1997)

Our position as Christians is to rise above the ordinary. We can’t stop having opinions—God-given emotions overflow into opinions—but we can watch how we communicate them; consciously acknowledging that they are emotions, not facts. Changing the future by arguing a position is counterintuitive. We change the future by doing, not talking.

James 1:19 – “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

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Change: What You Are Not Changing You Are Choosing

God is a God of ChangeWhat You Are Not Changing You Are Choosing is a quote from Laurie Buchanan. It suggests that you are implicitly accepting it as your reality by not taking action to change a situation.

We face choices daily—some we make actively, others through inaction. Yet, the truth remains: what we refuse to change, we are choosing. Scripture teaches us that God calls us active participants in our faith and lives, not passive bystanders.

Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live.”

This verse reminds us that choosing to remain in unhealthy patterns, toxic environments, or spiritual complacency is still a choice—one that can keep us from the abundant life God intends for us.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis.

Are You Settling for Less Than God’s Best?

Are you staying in a situation that drains your spirit, hoping it will somehow change on its own? Are you waiting for the “right time” to grow spiritually, mend a broken relationship, or pursue the calling God has placed on your heart?

James 4:17, “If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin.”

Inaction is still a decision when we know we need to act.

Faith Requires Action

Jesus often called people to step out in faith before transformation happened. The blind man had to wash in the pool (John 9:7), Peter had to step out of the boat (Matthew 14:29), and the woman with the issue of blood had to push through the crowd to touch Jesus’ robe (Mark 5:27-28). Each had a choice: remain the same or move toward change.

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” – Oswald Chambers.

So ask yourself:

What area of my life am I waiting for God to change when He is waiting for me to take action?

What fear is holding me back, and am I trusting God’s strength over my own?

Am I praying for change but resisting the steps God is prompting me to take?

God’s Promise for Those Who Choose Change

Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

God does not call you to change on your own—God equips, strengthens, and walks with you.

If you’re not actively choosing growth, renewal, and obedience to God’s direction, you may choose stagnation, fear, or comfort over calling. But the good news is, today is a new opportunity to choose differently.

What will you choose?

Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

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Peter Pan

Key to GreatnessPeter Pan said, “You can have anything in life if you sacrifice everything else for it.”

Peter wasn’t wrong. Paul put it a little differently.

Philippians 3:7, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

Chasing the Fog

Accomplishments: many people, men, more likely, have sacrificed everything else to gain power, privilege, wealth, or fame. The worldly trappings and the expectations of others drove their view of self-worth; they believed Peter Pan before they believed Paul. They thought the uneasiness they felt was due to not having enough. It was just the next thing that would make a difference. Many would look back on their lives and see they had sacrificed everything in vain.

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.”—Jim Collins

I don’t want to be that man. I want my life to count for something. I want to leave a legacy that will echo through eternity. In my death, I want to be bigger than life itself.

Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

Gravitational Pull of the World

The world pulls at us with the gravitational pull of the Sun. It wants to keep us in its orbit of mundane, meaningless accomplishments. Eventually, our orbit will decay, and we will find nothing but a fiery finish. When time has run out, we realize that all we have accumulated will be forgotten or exploited by others we have never met. We cannot reach back for a do-over. The do-over starts now.

Ecclesiastes 5:15, “Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.”

Joy is a choice, and God wants us to choose joy, but happiness is also part of God’s plan. Not perpetual happiness with laughs and birthday cake, but true deep-down happiness that grows from the soul. The type of happiness that brings tranquil sleep. It is a happiness that radiates throughout your body in quiet moments of reflection. It is a contentment that nothing else can give.

Never is a Long Time

Peter Pan also said, “Never is an awfully long time.” To never experience the pure love of Christ is indeed a long time. It makes life a marathon in Death Valley rather than a walk in the park. To always have to trust in yourself is exhausting. To always have to know the answers, have a plan, and make a move is to live a life full of anxiety and worry.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Seeking His kingdom and righteousness is not just putting your sights on eternity with Christ; it is to live a life worth living here on Earth. It is to free yourself from chasing the esteem of others and only pursuing God. It is about having faith, knowing that Christ is with you, and knowing your needs will be met. There will be setbacks and challenges, but you are not alone. You do not have to create the person that God wants you to be; God already created them; you must find them within yourself.

“People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.”—Edmund Hillary

Peter Pan, “To have faith is to have wings.”

Peter Pan wasn’t all wrong, but I’ll take Paul.

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Whose Life are You Going to Change?

Whose life are you going to change? I heard this as part of a discussion about the Oregon Ducks commemorating fallen players. As they hiked up the mountain trail, the coach asked them to remember those who helped them become who they are. On the return trip down the mountain, the coach asked them to think about those they would impact to change their lives in much the same way.

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Life

“I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will” ~ Edward Everett Hale.

We all leave a legacy. That is not a choice we get to make. It is an artifact of our existence. As we go through life, we leave our fingerprints on everything we touch. The real question that comes to mind is: Are we approaching this with intentionality? Do we acknowledge that we will leave a legacy and have a plan to make it meaningful?

I firmly believe that God created each of us unique and perfect for his plans. We cannot be someone else, and they cannot be us. As people, we can value the characteristics and achievements of others, but we were not created to duplicate them. We each have our own path through life.

“What you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God.” ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar

Change

Planning at the macro level, with blue-sky objectives and lifetime bucket lists, is admirable, but it doesn’t prepare you for your impact on the lives God sends through your life. These people will be imprinted by your presence, good or bad. Every interaction brings a person closer to Christ or pushes them further away. No interaction is neutral. When we acknowledge that every moment and every interaction is essential to God’s plan, that is when our royal legacy takes seed. Through the acceptance that we matter to God and, therefore, everyone we encounter also matters to Him, actions start to germinate.

Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

So often, we pass through life thinking that our immediate reaction won’t matter in the long run. God will forgive a momentary relapse to our old self. We can even go to the offended party and ask for forgiveness, but other eyes are watching, people we may never have direct contact with. These are the hidden lives God sends our way—people unprepared for direct interaction but still need encouragement. In that hidden moment, they may decide that Christianity does not offer the solution they seek.

Judgment

Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

In Revelations, the Bible talks about the White Throne of Judgement. Christ will judge the living and dead. Christians will not be judged for their sins; Christ has already forgiven them. They will be judged for their actions for Christ since they knew Him. Don’t let these moments slip away. Be intentional. Ask God for opportunities. Make a plan, rehearse your approach, be open to opportunities, and obey. We are not all destined to do great things, but we all can be great to someone.

Revelations 20: 12, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

Attending church, Bible Studies, praying, and mission trips prepare you for God’s plan for your life. But your true glorification of Christ is through expanding His Kingdom here on earth. You accomplish this by changing the lives of the people God puts in front of you. At that moment in front of the White Throne, you don’t have to have done anything; your salvation is assured. But I don’t think I would want to defend the position that my lifestyle, financial security, social position, or personal insecurity were more important. I could have had an impact for Christ; I just didn’t.

Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Homecoming

Homecoming should be a celebration. We should look forward to it. If you are a little trepid about explaining what you have done for Christ since you accepted Him as your personal Savior, maybe you need to rethink your plan. It is never too late to start anew. Leave a legacy, change a life. Make your homecoming a party to look forward to.

1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. “

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