Be the Change…

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is watch the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life.  In one scene the main character, a businessman, is in the midst of having a really good (some might even say justifiable) pity party.  The businessman reasons that the people in his life would be better off if he had never been born.  An angel appears and offers to show him what other’s lives would be like if he had never existed. Through the course of the movie it is revealed to him just how one person’s life can affect all the lives around him.   This movie caused me to think about how my life affects everyone around me.

Our Lives Are Intertwined
The businessman in It’s A Wonderful Life doesn’t start out in despair.  He starts out as an ambitious and fun-loving kind of guy.   He sees himself traveling the world and building a life with his new bride.  Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, due to a mistake made by another character, he finds himself in the middle of a possible scandal.  This scandal blurs his vision of his future.  Does It’s A Wonderful Life sound like your life?  Has some tragedy or some injustice caused you to be confused about the vision God has given you?  We’ve all been there.  When those times happen in our lives, we have to remember that God has plans to prosper us and not to hurt us, plans to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).   Those are the times in our lives when we really have to hold tightly to the vision that God has given us.  As a mother of two part of the vision God has given me is to help my children find their place in this world.  I believe that my children are apart of our family because there is something that God has placed on the inside of my husband and I to help them realize their potential.  I could be raising a president, a CEO of a corporation or a psalmist.   Additionally, as we train them up, there will be an exchange from their lives to ours as well.  They will influence who we are as we influence them.  Therefore, my vision influences the way they are raised.

Having a bigger vision for your life is realizing that the things placed on the inside of you were never intended to be just solely for your benefit.  We have to be determined not to be stingy with our gifts, our time and our talents.

Start Where You Are
Do you ever look at celebrities and think, “I wish I had that kind of money”?  Most of them don’t seem to realize it, but they have something far better than money.  What’s better than money?  Consider this, celebrities are given so many things by companies.   Why are people who have so much money given free things?  Their endorsement of a product brings in a company even more money.  Their influence brings in business.  Right now, your occupation may determine the amount of money you earn.  But it can not determine your level of influence.   Influence puts us in positions that money can not buy.  The goal of influence is NOT so we can power trip.

There is a challenge for all of us. Have you lost sight of what’s really important? Has the pursuit for popularity, prosperity and pats on the backs caused you to lose sight of your vision? Who are you impacting with your life?
(Pastor John C Maxwell’s blog post, Be the One… from the Chick-fil-A Leadercast, influenced this One.)