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LEAVING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

Years ago, fresh out of the University of Nebraska with degrees in banking and finance, I went to work as an intern at a large church in Omaha. At one point, during a meeting with over twenty pastors, Senior Pastor Bob Thune, said, “I try to leave every room I enter a little bit better than how I found it.”

Not necessarily brand-new information about personal responsi­bility, but there was something in his sincerity that made the message stick. He continued on to list specific examples from his life about putting this into action: cleaning up rooms in his house, straightening up rooms in the church, even wiping down the counters in every pub­lic restroom he uses.

When he was finished speaking, he led us outside to the parking lot, where we picked up every piece of trash we could find. Twenty of us leaders in the church, dressed in office attire, walking shoulder to shoulder from one end of the parking lot to the other, picking up trash along the way. Lesson learned and, apparently, never forgotten.

One way all of us pursuers of purpose can judge whether our actions really matter is to ask if they’re being beneficial to others. Because of your inten­tional living . . .

• Are relationships healthier?
• Are the poor better off, or the sick healthier, or the uneducated better informed?
• Is our physical world in better shape?
• Have more people heard the Gospel?
• Is there more wisdom to follow?
• Is there more kindness for people’s fragile hearts?

Obviously, you can’t address all the world’s problems, but sooner or later there should be something tangible or identifiable to show for what you’re doing. And if so, then when you come to the end of your life, you’ll be able look back and honestly say that you’ve done some­thing to make the world a better place than it was when you came into it. You’ve helped to bring God’s will to earth. Your life mattered.

Jesus said, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). What has been the fruit of your life in this world so far? What fruit do you want to bear from now on, withGod’s help?

We hope this plan encouraged you. Learn more aboutThings That Matter by Joshua Becker here.