:: note: I posted this on my previous blog in January 2012. a year on + on a different blog, these words still ring true. this post is slightly revised + expanded, but I truly hope you’re as challenged + inspired by them as I was when writing it… ::
[snapped by Bethany Morris, December 2011]
:: WHAT DOES MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD LOOK LIKE? ::
Being a light where the darkness dwells. Because even the smallest of lights begins to scare off what can seem like the deepest of the darkest.
Oozing grace to every person you come in contact with because they deserve it; despite what they may portray or how they may make you feel. And if you think that’s unfair, think about what John Henry Newman once said: “The way God gives His grace is scandalous.”
Spreading Hope where hearts have despaired.
Outstretching both hands + using all of your might to help pick up those who cannot pick up themselves.
Being strategically generous.
Partnering action to the dreams that God embedded in your being + whispered in your ear. No dream in a heart is pointless, what’s pointless is if you neglect to see why it was put in your heart to begin with.
Opening your mouth + speaking for the unempowered + those whose freedom to speak for themselves has been unjustly taken from them.
Showing kindness to all. In a harsh world, kindness is a warm hug that embraces + breaks down people’s walls.
Speaking life + encouragement. Realising that words have the ability to not only plant seeds into the essence of a person’s soul, but to also water them. Will yours produce a lush, green rainforest, or dried up thistle and weeds?
Not simply being aware of the injustice happening around us, but being active in seeing it changed. Because after all, awareness without action is simply ignorance dressed as pride.
[morning thought: 8th march, 2012 - source]
Catching the revelation that going to Church on Sunday isn’t enough, but being the Church every day is our mandate on this earth.
Acquiring a faith so contagious, sweet, + real that people can’t help but be drawn to the One who fuels it.
Having eyes that don’t just look, but that see the present + what the future could be. And when they see a problem, they realise that it’s their responsibility + opportunity to restore + revive – for that’s why they noticed it.
In a world full of anguish and worry, be a statement of peace that calms the stormiest of seas in someone’s heart.
And love. Love like you’ve never known hate. And love because that’s the common thread we all have in our lives. Once we experience love + begin to give it out, it becomes deeper. The threads then begin to weave tighter pulling everyone together, making a masterpiece that’s beautiful + hard to break. Because love unites + love includes.
To love + be loved is the purest form of making a difference in this world.
This is what making a difference in the world looks like to me. It’s beautiful, it’s wholesome, it’s purposeful, it’s influential, it’s practical, it has to make our hands dirty from doing the work, but it’s doable…. And it begins with me.
