If I Could Change the World…

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

Every morning, I get a video message that begins with, “Hey Grampy…” A lot of things get said after those two words, stuff about school, soccer and friend highlights, or some latest family news, but it’s those two words that transform my day. When those words are spoken, their intent is not to change the world. Actually, that’s what is so powerful about them – they are authentic, and they are said from the heart with an affection for another person. Unfortunately, our world has become about “me first” and “what I can get out of it….” More often than not, our motives don’t consider those who will get harmed. I know many hurting people who are alone in their pain; they sit in silence because someone else’s intentions robbed them of dignity and trust. This longing for hope amid pain makes me want to change the world… but who am I kidding? Change seems so far away and unattainable, or is it?

 

There is one person I know who is not a bit selfish, never tries to impress others. He is humble, thinking of others as better than Himself. He doesn’t look out only for His own interests but always takes an interest in others, too. He is definitely someone who has changed the world. The cool thing is, we can be like Him by having the same single-mindedness that He had. Though He was God, Jesus was absolutely sure of who He was; He did not think of His godliness as something He had to cling to; He is perfect and unchangeable. So instead, He let go of His divine privileges; He took our lowly and humble position and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Why? Because He knew we needed Him too. No matter how hard we try, our efforts lead to loneliness, turmoil, and despair because we live from selfish ambition. But Jesus, He lives from perfect love… taking on others’ burdens as His own, with no expectation of anything in return… we are even told in Matthew 12:32 that anything done against Him is forgivable… anything! There isn’t one of us who is like that! GOD knows this and has made a way for us to be like Him through belief in Jesus and His salvation work. When we choose to believe what He has accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection, He gives us a special gift toward what we will be like one day in Heaven. That gift is the Spirit, the very same Spirit that Jesus had and depended on in His life, and the same Spirit that raised Him from the grave. When, by a faith that trusts in His word, we crucify our selfish desires and put on the same mind as Jesus did, by humbly allowing the Spirit to guide us into all truth, we will begin to make the same kind of impact as Jesus. The obedience to His word makes the change; it is when we no longer lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways, acknowledge Him, that the Spirit will then lead you in the right path, which is God’s extraordinary plan for your life.

 

Because of Jesus’s humble obedience, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:3-11 NLT) He was given the name above every other name because the name of Jesus carries power and authority above everything else—every fact, figure, diagnosis, dream, and reality— to make a difference.

 

I won’t ever attain that kind of fanfare, but I can do things that will change the world. The most important, Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20, is to live the life of Jesus Christ every day by being faithful in all the little things, especially living in obedience to God’s word. God can take the small stuff we consider insignificant and multiply them into extraordinary works of faith in others’ lives. For instance, I can be kind when others are intolerant of my faith; or even long-suffering with those who reject me. I can experience joy in the most horrible circumstances because I know Jesus is there in my furnace of adversity, walking by my side. I can be at peace with God because Jesus willingly bore the cost of my sin, or I can rest in a love that comes from His heart that suffers all my pain and heartbreak. Because all these are a reality through the Spirit, I can reinvest what Jesus provides me in others’ lives. I can pray for them every day. I can pray in such a way they can get a small glimpse of how much God considers their needs and desires His goodness to fill their lives. You don’t have to be some great influential person or even be well-spoken to change the world around you; you just need to be someone others can trust and who is willing to enter their pain with a genuine motive to love like Jesus.

 

It doesn’t matter how miserable or amazing our situation seems; the truth is, we are limited in what we can do to change anything on our own. But what we can do is take hold of the promise we have in Jesus that “what is impossible with man… is absolutely possible with God.” (Matt 19:26)

 

If two words can change my day, how about these three words that end each video, “Love you, Grampy!” If those words, spoken by a child, can transform my day, how about these three words, “Jesus loves you,” spoken by someone who intimately knows Jesus’s surpassing greatness and remains in it day by day. I am confident that they will change the world.

 

Choose wisely…

 

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church.

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹ We love ^[c]Him because He first loved us. -1 John 4:17-19