What influence has Jesus Christ had on your life?

12/19/2019 – 12/25/2019

I have been turning this question over in my mind this week as we led up to Christmas: “What influence has Jesus Christ had on my life?”

That’s a pretty personal question, but I am working on becoming comfortable talking openly about this.

Some of the ways He’s made a difference and is making a difference in my life:

• His example of gentle leadership,
• His forgiving my mistakes helps me feel my need to forgive others,
• He helps me improve my relationships with my family.
• He’s given me small miracles of incremental personal change
• and hope for the future.

I believe there was a great plan of life that was laid out before we were born.

I believe it was a brave decision of ours (all people) to come to this life and become human, and even get hurt in many ways, in order to gain a valuable eternal education.

Jesus Christ, the firstborn Spirit Son of our Heavenly Parents was the only one who was prepared to serve as our Savior. His role would be not just to provide us a way to be forgiven of mistakes, but also to provide healing from the many emotional and physical wounds we accumulate in life.

Without this Healer who was promised, our choice to come to earth would have been foolish and unrecoverablly injurious. But because of Him, we can learn from our mistakes without being condemned by them. Because of Him we can be healed of our past pains and unseen wounds, and not be eternally impaired by them.

What influence has Jesus Christ had on me?

His gentle Leadership: The memory of the kind of person He was and is holds weight in my mind. He was the Master, yet He was very gentle with people. He didn’t sugar-coat the hard truths he had to say, but he was thoughtful in approaching people and helping them. I have felt His gentleness toward me, in my learning process. I have felt and seen it through the kindness of church leaders and others. I have felt it through His spirit’s promptings… He is more patient with me that I would be willing to be with myself. I feel the weight of the implications–I must be patient with all those around me. I heard a quote by Bob Spiel, that Leadership is not having control over others, but rather leadership is the process of influencing your fellow volunteers.

When I see my fellow men and women as brave children of God who chose to come to earth to face hard things, I remember we are all volunteers in an endeavour that is worth the trouble. And I need to be gentle, as the gentle Christ was.

The Duty to Forgive is tied up with that gentle forgiveness that He regularly offers me. He has been really clear about it; if I do not forgive others then I disqualify myself from the forgiveness He offers to me.

I feel the weight of that duty. When my angry indignant feelings begin to rise, when I feel justified to hold someone in contempt– I feel somewhere deep inside of me a quiet reminder that I have been forgiven, and asked to forgive. So if I insist on going down that attractive road, I’m venturing out on the thin ice of hypocrisy. I refuse to forgive at my own peril, or at least to my own chagrin and irony; someday when everything will be revealed and become clear. Jesus Christ has offered me forgiveness of my mistakes, even dumb ones, again and again. He has a right to command me to forgive.

Often the person I am struggling to forgive is myself, but He holds a right to command me to forgive that person too. I have felt his help to do this hard task. I can agree with Jeffrey Holland that “the grace of Christ offers us not only salvation from sorrow and sin and death but also salvation from our own persistent self-criticism.”

His work and sacrifice for us and His ongoing forgiveness, points to His faith in us, as children of God. As the carol says, “then He appeared, and the soul felt it’s worth.” He believes in our worth, our potential. He loves us, and He loves Our Father.

If you haven’t felt this, or haven’t felt it recently, I invite you to draw close to Him. Ask to feel how He feels about others, and you. Ask to be able to help others see and feel it.

Now today, He does much of His work through people, to give us the chances to learn and grow.

I’ve got a long way to grow. But because of Him, I have peace and hope, and His help along the way.

I thank Him.

Merry Christmas!