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Are we making a difference?
What is the one question we as Christians should be asking ourselves? Some of the questions we ask: what is my destiny, am I growing closer to God, am I a person of influence, am I really hearing the voice of God? And of course the list goes on. These are very relevant questions to our spiritual lives and questions that each of us want answered. But here is the irony of asking these questions. We sit and wait because we want to make sure that we are in the will of God for our lives, yet it has been my experience, that most of the answers to our questions come when we are on the move for God. For me, waiting for the "perfect time and will" of God has been the single most important issue in MY life that has been holding me back because the bottom line was,
I didn't want to disappoint God! There is one question that can be answered immediately, AM I MAKING A DIFFERENCE? No matter how long we have been a Christian, how much money we make, what church we go to or where we live - we all have the opportunity to influence people and have an impact in our neighborhood, community and the people around us. So how do we know if we are making a difference,
and how do we measure our influence?
How do we bring the Kingdom of God into our world here on earth? Let me share a few thoughts I have learned about influence. Influence begins with humility and ends with our faithfulness. We are influential because God chooses to use us. We should be a steward of God's calling on our lives and let "our way of life in Christ" influence those around us. We all have opportunity to set our lives in motion, and then go out and influence those around us. Our goal is to be Vision-Driven and Holy Spirit inspired. With that being said, the first question we
ask of ourselves is what can I do?
1. Write down (literally get a piece of paper and pen) what really excites and moves you. I believe that something supernatural happens when you apply Habakkuk 2; 2 to your life. Is it praying for people and the church, is it helping people with some kind of need or helping the orphans and feeding the poor, honestly search yourself. Here is the kicker; do not write down what you think you can afford to do, what you think you can do or what someone else said you should do. Write down as my kids would tell me, "what really floats your boat and excites you even if it sounds a little crazy". And as you begin to seek what God put in your heart and begin to pursue it and move forward, we often times find that we receive the very answers we have been searching for.
2. Finally, find a ministry that allows you to dig in and work in the area you have a passion for. Too many Christians find they are frustrated and bored because they are trying to fit their spiritual gifts into areas of ministry or service that does not suit them. There are such great ministries and organizations with incredible visions and areas of need that every Christian will have the chance to make a difference and influence people with the very gifts that God gave us.
We at Be the Gift pray that you will
seek God and find your place of influence
and put your passion into action.
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