A Different World

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE discipleship. I love my girls and I have probably talked to you about how amazing they each are at some point or another. I also have had the privilege to be discipled by a number of incredibly powerful women, and I have learned something unique from each of them. I would not be who I am or where I am without each and every one of them. I truly believe there is something to give and gain through every relationship we enter. It's so exciting to experience all that God wants to do when we give ourselves to relationships specifically structured to pour out and receive wisdom and guidance with another individual.

I love to dream about what the world could look like if every person on Earth were to invest in someone else for the entirety of our lives, and it makes me smile to think about how incredible life could be!

Could you imagine if every single person in the world believed in someone or something outside themselves?! For starters, it would create a unifying culture of commitment, excitement, and investment. As we shift our focus to extend beyond our individual circumstances, I believe the innate tendency we have toward selfishness would begin to fade away. Everyone would begin to understand the same truth that life is not about us. As more and more people begin to realize this, kindness and compassion could flow with ease throughout societies. We would begin to empathize with all kinds of people as we get an inside glimpse into the way that other individuals experience and process the world. We would be able to come against apathy more fiercely than ever before because we would have a community of people championing one another to fight for something more than just our own lives.

Could you imagine how much life change would happen if every person had someone else to call them into action to actually create the change we are longing for? We would become a world that is not only self-aware of the things that we see on the surface, but a world that is aware of how to actively communicate things that could lead to action and change. Sometimes when my girls are caught up in the world around them, they have a hard time seeing the amazing things they hold and were created to release to the world to make it more whole. Being in the role of discipler, I get the honor to remind them of these amazing things and empower them to begin stepping out in faith and living in the truth God has spoken over their lives. And y’all, this truly changes atmospheres!!

Could you imagine if every single person began to embody a lifestyle that the Bible actually tells us to live? Matthew 10 expresses the idea that we have freely received from Jesus, and therefore we freely give away to others. Throughout the new testament in each of the gospels and each of Paul's letters there are great details about how our lives are not our own. We are to give up our belongings to those in need, to give the shirt and coat off our own back to aid someone else, to share our wisdom for others to know the glory of God, to pray for one another, to love one another, to hold each other accountable, etc. This is what it means to invest in others, to put their needs in front of our own, to point them back to the one who is deserving of all glory. To live a life where every person is faithfully investing in another person is to live a life that embodies the Kingdom of Heaven.

Author  |  Tori Kramer