God wants you to make a difference in the lives of those around you. 

Zig Ziglar tells the story of an 83-year-old Sunday School teacher named Amy Whittington who lived in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan.[i]  Ms Whittington was making a difference in her circle of influence.  When she heard about an Effective Bible Teaching seminar to be held at Moody Bible Institute, she saved her pennies and bought a bus ticket for the overnight trip to Chicago.  

One of the professors was impressed by this enthusiastic octogenarian and asked a little more of her story.  Apparently, Ms. Whittington had 13 junior high boys in her Bible class.  She took her ministry to them very seriously.  But that wasn't the most amazing part of her testimony. Eighty-six of the boys who had gone through her Bible class over the years were now in the ministry.

 God has given each one of us a circle of influence.  We're not just here to survive.  God wants us to make a difference in the lives of those around us.

 

 

[i] Zig Ziglar, Something to Smile About (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), 47-48.