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Can you name someone in your life who has had a major influence on who you are now, or on what you have tried to accomplish? Perhaps it was a teacher or coach. Maybe there was a special friend from school or a mentor from work. It could be a parent, or even a sibling. There can be more than just one, of course. And perhaps there is someone you have yet to meet who will become another influencer in your life.
These kinds of people in my own life have helped me to see the possibilities for what can be done with a human life or demonstrated certain qualities that I admired and wanted to emulate. Some are people whom I have known only from afar, but most are people who have been part of my life. I’m sure that some of them have had an effect on me without my even realizing it. I suppose there are a few whose presence taught me about who I did not want to become, but there are far more who pulled and encouraged me in positive ways.
It is not too much to say that these people, to varying degrees, changed my life.
We Christian folk are people who claim that Jesus is our hero, our mentor, our role model, above anyone else. Knowing Jesus changed the first disciples’ lives, and knowing Jesus is meant to change ours as well. So read John 17:6-19. Come to worship—in person or online. And we’ll delve further into this matter in my message, “The Savior’s Love: Holding Us Close.”
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