Impact

Have you made an impact on someone's life simply by the way that you live yours? It's quite possible that you have, and you don't even know it.

We can have a positive or a negative impact in the lives of the people around us. There is a choice to be made here. How will we choose?

As parents, we directly impact the lives of our children. Kids are smart. It might seem like they aren't listening but they hear every word that they want to hear. But that's not all.

Not only do people hear our words but they also pick up on our actions as well. We are then judged by whether our "actions speak louder than our words."

“People honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." - Matthew 15:8

Have you ever heard a parent say, "Do what I say, not what I do?" I hope not. Our words need to line up with our actions. I write these stories about observations I make in life. But if my words don't match my actions, my words don't carry much weight.

Teachers can have a tremendous impact on our children.

I had a teacher once whose nickname was "Pops." Nobody wanted to get on his bad side. We had seen it so we feared him. Yet, one day in class I did something that made him notice. He saw something I had done and used it as an example for the class. Embarrassing. Yet I remember that happening to this very day - some 50+ years later.

Often we don't even know the impact we are having on someone's life until years later. Will that impact be positive or negative? That's up to us.

Jesus had a tremendous impact on lives of the people around Him. He is in the business of changing lives. His presence in our hearts and in our actions causes a ripple effect that touches lives. We might not even notice the ripples we make but someone will.

Who will we touch today by the things we say and do?

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." - Philippians 1:27