Start With Me!

“I have to impact my world”. It is a very powerful statement. You know, people think about the mark they can have, how they can show that they were there. For example, I went to a restaurant in Gabon, and it happens that a few months earlier, Samuel L. Jackson had visited it. So, when I got in, I saw a picture of him in the restaurant and underneath, a tablet was saying something in the lines of “ Samuel Lee Jackson visited *name of the restaurant* on the *date*”.

When you think about it, some believe that there is absolutely nothing after death and long to have an impact on the world. Even though they are wrong about the first statement, their ambition can be understood. Is there some pride in it? Probably. But their goal should be ours as followers of Christ. It is my duty to enlighten the world with what I have.

As Eli will develop it in a few lines, God gave us all talents. Things that we can use in order to give Him the glory and lead people to know Him. And these talents are meant to bear fruit. This is pretty much what Jesus explains in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. A master gives his servants talents before they leave. Two of them get even more by investing them, the third one decides to hide it, for he is afraid of his master. When he comes back, the master gives recompenses to the first two ones but punishes the third one for his attitude.

Your job is to impact the world. Using your talents to touch those around you. Bear a testimony worthy of the One who saved your life, not only in his time but for all eternity. Why this duty? Because this is your testimony, your life, your passion that will lead those who have never set a foot in a church to the idea of following Christ.

Finally, there is one thing that could help you to stand up. This sentence : “Start with me”. When God wanted to speak to the world in the time of Isaiah, He asked “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah responded, willing to please the Lord “Here I am, send me” (Isaiah 6:8). The world cannot change, cannot get better if you are not acting. Bad things start with one. Good things and change can start with one. Let this one be you.

Do


To carry on from what Do was saying: we all can impact the world.

But to be able to impact the world, I’ve had to learn two very essential things: my talent and my fears.

Allow me to begin by quoting one of my favorite poems, written by Marianne Williamson. She says in her poem: “It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.” The entire poem is brilliant and I encourage everyone to read it at least once a year. It’s one of those things that gets better every year, especially when you grow spiritually.

The point of the poem is to make people like you and I realize that we are talented. We have so many gifts. If that isn’t enough to remind you that you are talented, there’s 1 Corinthians 12:7-8 “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge...” What Paul is saying is that the Father gives everyone a special talent. It could be writing, drawing or anything else that He can think of.

And all of these were meant to serve Him. Whenever we do so, we do more than just serve Him, but we inspire others, whether we know it or not. It’s by following Colossians 3:17 that we become a light to those around us.

The light that I’m talking about is the light that Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:14 - 16. It’s one where you are the light of the world through your good deeds; where people see the Father through you. They see the person that you are and see the qualities of the righteous and the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The Father gives us all the opportunity and the chance to inspire others. There are so many people that we can be inspired by: Oprah, Warren Bufet, Lebron James and even the late-great Chadwick Boseman. All of them are great sources, who, in one way or another, take inspiration from the greatest inspiration we can all have: Jesus Christ.

Therefore, let the light of Christ shine within you and inspire the world around you.

Eli