We live in a world today that has become increasingly self-centered. Advertisers play on this by promoting the “Self” mentality. One of the catch phrases that is big right now is “You do you.” Of course, the idea behind this is that you only have to please yourself. This is only partially true. We live in a society, so we also must do our part to contribute to the good of that society. When people fail to contribute, the system breaks down.
This leads us to the question, “How do I contribute to society?” The answer is simple, yet more difficult to put into practice. In order to get the most (and the best) out of life, we must turn to the Author of life and His word, the Bible. The Bible teaches us to love one another and gives us specific instructions on how to go about this. I Corinthians 13 is an entire chapter dedicated to the concept of unconditional love. If we put what we read in that chapter into practice in our lives, we will see amazing changes in ourselves and those around us.
Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3, 4– 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. This shows us that we need to humble ourselves before one another. We need to view others and their needs as more important than our own. It is true that some people will take advantage of us, however, that is not our concern. We are called to love and by loving our fellow man, we are showing love to God.
Paul also wrote in Romans 12:10–10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Again, we have the idea of humility. We need to make other people realize that we view them as important and that we are not we do not think we are better than them. As matter of fact, Paul states this directly a few verses later, 16 “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Yes, there are people of different ranks in society, however, Jesus dies on the cross for everyone. That gives all of us the same value, regardless of our station in life.
Demonstrating true love is not always easy. We must remember, love is an action word. Love is not a mere emotion. Love motivates us to do. Many people say they love Jesus, yet do they demonstrate it through what they do? Jesus put it this way in John 14:15–15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. Obey indicates doing. In John 3:16, we are told that God loved the world. That love motivated God to action, He gave us Jesus. True love is always shown not just voiced.
So, back to the title question, how do I change the world? Each of us can change our little part of the world by loving like God loves. That is loving unconditionally and being ready to offer mercy, grace, and forgiveness to those who hurt us. As each of us work on our own part of the world, our influence will spread. Visualize tossing a rock into a pond. The water ripples away from where the rock entered the water. The effect goes beyond just where the rock went in. The more rocks you throw in the pond, the more ripples are made. The bigger the rocks, the farther the ripples go. So, love a lot and love big. In this way, you will change the world!
Read I John 4:7-20