The words of Jesus in Matthew 4:19 “Follow Me and I will make you.” This is our last challenge in the series on making an impact as a spiritual leader in the lives of people with whom we interact. When we carefully follow Jesus, He will make us a man of impact just as He did when He called his disciples and told them to follow Him and He would make them. This is exactly what He did and their impact is still in effect today as we read and apply the Gospels and New Testament.

Every one of us makes an impact when we connect with other people. Everything that we do personally, at home, at work, in church and in the community has either a positive or negative impact on other people. When we want to make and have a strong Christian family we must ourselves be a positive impact in their lives. John Maxwell in his book, “Becoming a Person of Influence,” lays out four sequential steps to do this.

First, people are impacted by what they see in us and this is vividly evident in children as they do what they see and hear us do. This is modeling or living an example. Your life must be an example of a man following Jesus to show that He is making you each day. Second, we have to take modeling to another level and make it a close personal relationship. We become a motivational impact when we encourage, support, teach, love and communicate on an emotional level. This creates a bridge/bond between us and the people we lead and it builds trust, confidence and a sense of self confidence to live in Jesus.

Third, the next level is that of mentoring like Jesus mentored his disciples to make them disciples. Mentoring is simply pouring your life into other people and helping them reach their potential. Your goal in spiritual mentoring is to make them into spiritually mature disciples. It is a growth process that takes time, work and commitment. The fourth step is to have a multiplying impact as you see those you lead making an impact in the lives of people with whom they interact. This is a legacy of “passing it on” to others. The baseball great, Jackie Robinson, said, “A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.” The most significant life ever lived (Jesus) must each day have an impact on our lives and we must pass it on. He is our personal model/example, motivation, mentor and multiplier, so let Him make you each day.