Is it possible to love God with all your heart but not make a difference in the lives of others?
MAXIMIZE YOUR INFLUENCE, IMPACT, AND INCOME
Lula Jones was an eighty-two-year-old member of the first church I pastored. She was one of the hippest seniors I had ever met. She drove a fire engine red car with a license plate on the front: Foxy Grandma. She was also very active in our church and deeply spiritual. As a matter of fact, she would arrive at service early to pray and read her Bible. In spite of my youth and foolish mistakes, she loved and supported me. I loved Lula. It happened suddenly; Lula was diagnosed with cancer and died soon thereafter. The day of her funeral, only five people were in attendance. I was embarrassed and upset because none of our church members showed up. Only three cars were in the funeral procession to her graveside service. Did her life really make an impact on others? While driving to Lula’s burial site I thought, When I die, I don’t want only three cars to take me to my burial site. I want to make such a difference in people’s lives that the whole city will have to shut down. Then this question came to me, Is it possible for people to love God with all their hearts yet not impact and influence others? Sadly, the answer is, “Yes, it is possible, and in fact, probable.” Lula and several thousand other highly spiritual people are proof that happens every day. This led me to think about the following questions: • Why do some people have tremendous impact, influence,and income, and others produce very little? • How can we predict who will do something big and beautiful for God? • Why do some people acquire extraordinary wealth and influence, while others don’t? When staring at death, I asked, “Why did I waste so much energy on things that didn’t matter?” –Ric Elias Your life perspective changes based on your points of view—past, current, or future (death). Are you looking at your life from where you started, where you are now, or from the end—at the very last moments of your life? Most people view their lives from the past or present. But when you review your life from the end, everything takes on a new meaning. From the beginning and now, we tend to focus on our survival and successes—from the end, we are forced to focus on impact and making a difference. From the future or the end you start asking yourself more challenging questions such as: • Did I use my life, energy, and resources to make a difference? • Did I leave the world in better shape than the way I found it? • Did I live for a cause larger than myself? • Did I waste my life doing things that did not matter for eternity?
Expanding Your Leadership Skills
We will be examining your perspective on life, your career, your ministry, and your relationship with God, yourself, and others. Also throughout this series are LQ Solutions meant as post-it mind notes—crucial keys to keep life moving forward, expand your boundaries, and make the biggest, most powerful and positive impact possible. LQ Solution: Connecting to the fact that you will die one day is a powerful tool to shift your thinking from influence to impact and awaken your inner leader. What about You? Here is what I discern about you—you want to make a significant difference in your life and the lives of others! You want to know your life matters. However, you haven’t yet reaped the results you really want. You need direction. You need a clear sense of what to do next. You also need real solutions to the current problems you are facing. And you want to live life at your maximum potential!
You Have The Potential To Help Others
LQ Solution: God’s gift to you is your potential. Your gift to God is what you do with it. Potential is not who you are now, but who you can become. Potential is not what you are doing now, but what you can do in the future. Potential is not what you have at this moment, but what you can own in the future. Potential is not who you are helping at this moment, but the multitudes you could be helping in the future. Potential is crying out from your future saying, “You can be, do, have, and help more. Keep reaching!” See our next video about how You Are A Leader. What are your thoughts on this subject? Leave A Comment!