Articles
Who Inspires You?
“You don't need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfection” (Lewis Howes). Yet how many times do we think we have to be perfect to inspire others?
Think for a minute. Think about the people who inspire you the most. Think about the people in the Bible who inspire you the most. Think about the people in your church family who inspire you the most. All have one thing in common. They are imperfect. It is not their imperfections that matter. It is how they deal with them. All, save Jesus, have sinned. All, save Jesus, have imperfections.
Is it Abraham, the father of the faithful? He was imperfect. He lied on two occasions to save his own hide. Is it Moses? He tried to excuse himself out of doing what God called him to do. Is it David? He committed an immoral act and contributed to the death of an innocent man, all to save his own hide. It didn’t work. Is it Peter? Is it Paul? Is it Ruth? Deborah? Esther? Who is the person, or persons, that inspire you the most? Who, in your lifetime, among God’s people, inspires you? No matter who that person may be, they have imperfections.
The life of a Christian is not a life of perfection. It is a life of direction. That direction is accompanied by corrections. The challenge isn’t "am I perfect?", but when I sin or simply make mistakes, what do I do about them? If I persist, ignore, or neglect them, then the direction I am walking is away from God. No matter how loud I protest, I am walking in darkness (1 John 1:6). If I make course corrections as needed, then I keep the direction and will arrive where I want to be (1 John 1:7).
Who do I want to be? Who I want to be determines the direction I will walk. Who I want to be determines my will to pursue that aim. There is a great deal of merit to staying out of jail, but if all I want to do is stay out of jail, that is not too lofty. I might stay out of jail and still be a failure.
Our greatest pursuit is to be like the Son. We want to be like Him in nature, character, attitude, disposition, and teaching. We want it to be such that, when people see us, they see Jesus. We want to be filled with the fulness of God and want to let the beauty of Jesus be seen in us. The Psalmist said, “I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psa. 17:15). That is the definition of a successful life. The expectation is not to be perfect, but to grow up to look like Him.
The very thing that will inspire others is our pursuit of looking like Him.
Rickie Jenkins
