I want you to think about a time when someone made you feel really special. Think about a time when someone, maybe you knew them and maybe you didn’t, did something that made you feel really good. Think about a person that you consider a leader to you. Think about that person and what they mean to you. Think about the significance of them in your life. Maybe they were just in there for a short time, or maybe they have been involved in your whole life. What did they do that made you feel that way? What did they do that helped you in your life? How did they do this? How did they impact you? Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” This is so true. We will all be remembered in some way. Either good or bad, we will all be remembered by others. We sometimes get caught up in thinking that people will remember the things that we did or the things we accomplished. We get caught up in the personal accomplishments and things individual in nature and we don’t think about people remembering how we make them feel. It can be so simple to us, yet so big to them. We have a chance to be their light.
Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Just like you can’t hide a city on a hill, if we live for Christ we will glow like lights. It will show in our personality. It will show in how we treat people. It will show in the things we say and do. This is what we have an opportunity to do. This is what we can do to help others. We live in a world that for quite awhile now has worked really hard at keeping God a secret. The world has taught people that even if you believe in God, keep it to yourself. It doesn’t have to be this way, but people have allowed it to be. But I feel there is starting to be a shift in this. I feel there is starting to be more people being outspoken about God. There are more people that are starting to let their lights shine. This is so awesome. This is what needs to happen. We just have to be willing to sometimes go beyond what is comfortable and easy to make a difference!
Sometimes we think these things have to be big things. But they can be little things as well. They can be simple acts of kindness that mean more to people than we realize. I remember when my grandpa passed away we were all at the house. We had some of our best friends in the world that drove two hours simply to bring us some food and supplies. They had no idea the impact that would have on us. They drove that far just to bring us those things and be there with us for awhile, just to be able to sit and talk. That is something that we won’t ever forget. It is something that was uplifting to us to know that they cared that much to drop what they were doing and come to see us. I still remember the night that they medi-flighted Traber to Oklahoma City from Elk City. I had two of the guys I coached with at the time show up at the hospital right before they took him in the helicopter. They didn’t say a word for a long time after they got there. They just simply embraced me with a hug for a long time. Now any other time this might have been awkward, but at that moment that is just what I needed. They didn’t have to say a word. Their mission was accomplished when they walked through those doors. They probably won’t ever know the impact they had on me that night. I still get emotional thinking about it. But that act of kindness did more for me than they knew at the time.
Now go back to that person that we talked about earlier. Think about the things that this person did for your life. Think about what they did that made you feel special or made you a better person. Obviously they didn’t hide their light. They let it shine. Sometimes this person is directly involved in your life and sometimes they may be people that we will never meet. I have two guys that I will more than likely never meet that have had a big impact on my life. They are two guys that are associated with football that are Godly men as well. They have not only impacted me, but millions of other people as well. I don’t read a lot. If I find a book I really enjoy then I like to read. But, I can’t just pick up a book and read it just to be reading. But Tony Dungy and Tim Tebow both have books that I love to read. Those two men are Godly men that impact people daily. They have a platform that they can use to further God’s kingdom. They are the kind of people that when you hear what they say or read what they write you feel like you can conquer the world. That’s how they make you feel.
I first read Tony Dungy’s book “Quiet Strength” when Traber was born. He was born over Christmas break and I started reading it while we were home. I read the entire book in just a few days, which is very unusual for me. But I couldn’t put it down. It was such a great book. When I was reading it I felt empowered. I was reading this and the whole time I was thinking about him and what he did for a living. I thought about the fact that in his profession God isn’t necessarily spoken about too much. Especially not in a public manner. That is one thing that was so intriguing to me about him. He wasn’t ashamed. He wasn’t going to just go with the flow and be silent about his faith. That was inspiring to me. It made me think that if he could do it, then why couldn’t I do it too. I then read his book, “Uncommon” when it came out. I was the same way with it. It just motivated me to be more outspoken and confident as a Christian. Several years later I read Tim Tebow’s book, “Shaken” and then his second book, “This is the Day”. These books are the same way. I think the reason, besides the incredible content in them, that they were so motivating and intriguing was because of the status of the authors. Those are men that I had watched play or coach football at a high level. Those are professions where Godly things are not talked about a whole lot. But here were these men professing their faith for millions to read. If you watched them do their jobs and listened to their interviews you could hear their faith spoken about and see the peace they had as Christians. I have so much respect for them because of this. The importance of them doing this far outweighs anything they can or will do when it comes to sports. So this just proves that there are people that we will probably never meet that can have an impact on our lives. That impact can lead to our light shining brighter and that energy and faith can be passed along to others around us.
But there are also others that impact our lives that we might see or talk to daily or weekly. I have been so blessed with so many great influences in my life. My parents have been that for me as well as many others. As talked about before, my dad has preached for over 30 years. There were times when I didn’t really appreciate this like I should have because there were times when I was younger when I would have loved to “take a Sunday off” and sleep in. But I didn’t get to. I was there no matter what. But, in the long run that paid off. I now appreciate it more that they will ever know. That person for you may or may not be parents. Maybe it’s a different family member or a friend. Whoever it is, those people are special in our life.
Outside of our family, there are people at our church that are lights for us as well. There are a lot of great examples there. There is one couple that have been this for Kristin and myself. They are great examples that we look up to as Christians. They are that couple that is an example of how Christians should act in every aspect of life. They have a marriage that is focused around Christ. They have children that love the Lord. But they also have this peace about them. That is what draws people to them. When you are around them they make you feel like the most important people in the world. You get the feeling when you are around them that everything is going to be ok. This peace comes from God. This peace is from years of dedicating yourself to the Lord and having that relationship with him that allows you to have this outlook on your life. This couple has helped Kristin and I in so many ways. Some that they know about and some that they don’t. We have gone to them for advice. We have shared highs and lows with them, but ultimately have looked up to them as someone outside our family that we look to as examples of how to be the light for others. They are a terrific example of being disciples for Christ and influencing others in a positive way.
The question we have to ask ourselves is how we can pay that forward. How can we have that same impact on others? How can we make others feel special? How can we lead others in a Christian way and help bring others to Christ? Do people know we are Christians by how we conduct ourselves? These are all questions I think we have to ask ourselves before we can accomplish these things. I think about these things a lot. I think, do people know I’m a Christian without me telling them? If someone didn’t know me personally but knew who I was or had been around me without meeting me, would they know I was a Christian? The answer to that probably depends on the day. It probably has a lot of factors. I hope they would. But I also realize that there are times when they wouldn’t. We all have times when we don’t conduct ourselves in that way like we should. But I hope that most of the time they would say that they could tell for sure. I hope they would know.
We have a chance to be a light. Philemon 1:4-7 says, “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.” Philemon knew how to be refreshing. He was encouraging to Paul because of his love. Are we refreshing to others? Are we uplifting to others or are we a burden to others by draining their energy, motivation, and joy by our complaining and negativity. What if we all focused on being a light to all those that we came in contact with? What if we concentrated on not complaining and being negative around others? How much different would our homes be? How much different would our workplace be? How much different would our communities be? How much different would this world be? It is so easy to be negative. It is easier to complain than it is to fix something. It is easier sometimes to talk negatively about someone or something by giving our opinion or the opinion of someone else that shared their opinion with us, than it is to be positive or just say nothing at all.
For years I was not necessarily ashamed of my faith and Christianity, but was also not very outspoken about it. I didn’t care if people knew I was a Christian, but I didn’t care if they didn’t know either. Maybe I was just nervous about what people would think I guess. Maybe I didn’t know how to go about it. I’m not really sure of the reason. But eventually I didn’t care what people thought. I wanted people to know I was a Christian, not for my own gain, but hopefully for their gain. That boldness we can have might help other people in a way that we don’t even know. I hope that other people will be more outspoken as well. I hope that more and more people will let their light shine. Think about how that person or persons we thought about earlier made us feel. Then think about how we can be that for someone else. My challenge for everyone this week is to think a lot about those questions and focus on that this week. Focus on doing something every day that will let people know you care. Do something every day that might help make someone else’s day. If we do these things and we are uplifting to others, they will know we are Christians by how we treat them. We can all make a difference as individuals. But, together we can change things!!!