influence through serving

Proverbs 22:4 (GWT) --- On the heels of humility (the fear of the Lord) are riches and honor and life.

"With great power comes great responsibility." That quote comes from one of the Spiderman movies, and I have not let that thought leave me. God has used it to remind me of the influence I have in the lives of people around me. The truth is great power comes from great humility. Then there are great open doors to influence more people.

Then I ran across this blog post from Ben Arment:

It's impossible to help someone through mere inquiry.
It's a nice gesture... makes us look good... lets us off the hook. But the truth is, we know what could really help others. We're fully aware of the action. We just don't want to do it.
We think influence is expendable, limited in supply; and we don't want to waste it on the wrong opportunity. So we hoard it. We might need it for ourselves, after all.
As leaders with a certain level of influence, we can either spend it on ourselves and perpetuate the personal rewards of that influence... or we can spend it in those who don't have it.
The ironic thing is - we grow in influence by helping others. It's the way of the influence economy.

Did you hear what Ben said? "We grow in influence by helping others." That is HUGE. That is truth and helps us understand what our influence really is all about. Humility is tough but is so important to our walk with God.

Seek God. Understand humility. Influence others by serving them.

Comments

Ben Arment said…

thanks for the shout-out Michael. You're a great encourager.

September 24, 2009 at 3:05:00 PM EDT

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

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Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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