Is Your Life Changing Other Lives for the Better?

We all want to be able to answer this question affirmatively. We hope we are living out our faith in a way that impacts those around us. But, at the same time, we can sometimes get so lost in the daily shuffle of work-life and home life that we can question our influence. We get overwhelmed by the needs around us. We don't see the impact, so we wonder if it's there.

Tebow continues in his social post: "You don't have to change the world…start by helping or serving one person."

In the 2019 film "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," we learn more about the life of beloved children's television host Fred Rogers. In the movie, writer Lloyd Vogel (a character based on real-life writer Tom Junod) is on assignment to interview Mr. Rogers for Esquire magazine. In the process, he learns that Mr. Rogers is actually "one of the nicest people he has ever met." Vogel was accustomed to finding the dark side of his subjects. And, yet, Fred Rogers turned out to be the same caring man in person that he displayed on the screen. And as the two get to know each other, Mr. Rogers profoundly impacts Vogel's life and family.

Here's another true story for you. On one foggy summer night, Corion Evans, a 16-year-old from Mississippi, witnessed three teenage girls drive their car into the alligator-infested Pascagoula River. As the car began to sink in the river about 20 feet away from the shoreline, Evans immediately jumped into action, swimming out and rescuing the girls, one by one. A police officer responded to the scene to help and ultimately found himself in peril. Evans swam over to assist and bring him to shore.

"I was just like, 'I can't let none of these folks die. They need to get out the water,'" Evans told news station WLOX. "So, I just started getting them. I wasn't even thinking about nothing else."

I know what you are thinking. "I'm not Tim Tebow or Mr. Rogers. I don't have the courage to risk my life to jump into a river with alligators like Corion Evans."

These individuals have one thing in common: each is a person whose focus is (or was) on others.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Philippians (and us), tells us to model this behavior; in doing so, we have the same mindset as Jesus.

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2: 3-8).

In Romans, Paul encourages us to "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor" (Romans 12: 10). Jesus tells us to "love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15: 12-13)

It's clear that we are encouraged to love others and think of them above ourselves throughout Scripture. In fact, it's a mark of the Christian life that we live a life of service to those around us. Yet, over and over, our minds often gravitate back toward our own selfish motives and ambitions. We "have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out" (Romans 7:19).

How do we turn the truth of Scripture into action? Why is it still so hard for us to think beyond ourselves sometimes? How do we develop an "others" mindset?

I don't have all the answers to these questions. This is an area in which I sometimes struggle, as well. Life gets hectic, and we enter survival mode. We focus on making it through, one day at a time.

Maybe part of our issue is this: we are overwhelmed by the scope of the problems we see around us, and we feel insignificant to enact change. Tim Tebow is right. We don't need to change the world. That is far too daunting of a task for us to focus on, anyway. But, we can serve one person. By doing just that, we may change that person's world.

Who is God laying on your heart to serve today? How can we exhibit the mind of Christ Jesus and love a neighbor, friend, or even a stranger?

Prayer: Father, give us open eyes to see the world around us – to see people in their time of need. And give us the courage and ability to act in faith to serve them in love.

Brent Rinehart is a public relations practitioner and freelance writer. He blogs about the amazing things parenting teaches us about life, work, faith and more at www.apparentstuff.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @brentrinehart