More than You

“Your life is not an isolated event. It is intertwined, closely connected, influencing and affecting those around you.
Loren Thornburg

Every time I pass by a car accident after sitting in traffic I am reminded how the events of our lives effect more than just our own. I see how that one accident effected hundreds of cars and lives to follow. It causes me to think about the ways that our lives have an affect on the lives of those around us. Sometimes in ways like traffic but also in ways like those that help move the accident out of the way so that traffic can flow freely again and restore the lives of those affected by the accident. Our lives are not isolated. They can’t be unaffected by those around us nor can they not affect those around us. We can’t help but influence the lives of others. The question is in what ways will it influence others...causing traffic or to help restore, causing pain or bringing freedom. It’s about more than you.

“They were only hearing it said, He who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the very faith he once reviled and which he set out to ruin and tried with all his might to destroy. And they glorified God as the Author and Source of what had taken place in me.”
Galatians 1:23-24 AMP

The life of Paul, once Saul is a picture of a clearly changed life. From one extreme to another, from persecuting Christians to boldly preaching the gospel. Those who knew him as Saul couldn’t help but notice the change and be changed by it. In Galatians as Paul is sharing about Jesus and the grace of God we see how the change in Paul changed those around him. And the best part about it is they knew who brought the change. They knew it could not have happened by Paul himself but that God was the source and author of that change and they wanted to be a part of it. Paul merely allowed the change that God brought, but it was his allowing that then allowed others to see their own invitation to be changed. God used Paul’s life to influence hundreds around him. Before he was effecting the lives of others towards pain and hardship and now God used him to bring Jesus and freedom. God wants to use us as well to be those affecting others to glorify Him. Let us know the Author and Source of our change and let God use it to change others.