An Example

How we live our life affects other people. We can choose to be a blessing to others or a hindrance to them. The more we think about how we are influencing others, the more we will be inclined to act in a way that is in their best interest. “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Mathew 7:12). We won’t have to think very hard about whether or not we should do something when we consider whether we would like what we are planning to do to be done to us.

Be a fountain, not a drain. Nourish others like the rain.

We get to choose whether we will nourish people and use things or nourish things and use people. We can nourish our neighbor by determining what type of plant our neighbor is and helping them become a good, healthy one. We are only using our neighbor when we see how they can do things for us without thinking of them. Some of the best ways to nourish others are to give them opportunities to use their talents.

You are about as happy as you decide to be.

Life happens to everyone, but we are in charge of how we respond to the life that happens to us. We can choose to rejoice and look for opportunities to find God in everything in life, or we can look for brokenness and find that life is unfair and unkind. We can decide to be happy because someone else is happy with less than what we have.

You are the fragrance of Christ, let His aroma exude from you.

In the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gives His disciples three commands, Go, Baptize, and Teach them to observe. In Greek, the verb go is passive while the other verbs are active. So the Great Commission should be read, “While you are going about your life, baptize - immerse - others in God’s life and teach others how to obey.” We teach others how to obey God’s commandment by setting an example in the way we live. We aren’t supposed to simply teach others what God’s commandments are, we need to teach them how to obey them, which implies knowing them. Finally, we immerse others in the Christian life by doing life together with them in a relationship just as God does life with us. In this we live out “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). As we go about our daily lives, we have opportunities to lead others into doing life with God by doing our life with God.

Examples surpass explanations.

With our lives, we show what we believe rather than simply telling what we believe. Demonstrating a truth by an example makes it more memorable and impactful. Jesus’ parables were examples that helped to explain profound truths. Your life is a parable that explains the truths of your unique personality that God programmed into you. Changing the way you live your life based on truth does more to demonstrate the power of that truth than the best philosophical argument for it.