Have I Made a Difference?

And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 2 Peter 1:15

I started journaling while in treatment way back in 2014. It’s my way of processing my thoughts, which has been tremendously helpful in my recovery. In 2016, I began sharing those daily thoughts in the form of this blog. I started writing primarily for myself and my recovery, but the blog is an effort to allow my struggles to help others who struggle, hoping that my story is useful to them. Daily, I make some effort to abandon my way for God’s, asking that he would transform me while using my journey to transform those around me. I don’t tell my embarrassing story and bare my soul daily in the blog to get more likes on Facebook and I don’t do it for entertainment. I ask God to inspire my writing so that it may inspire others. I want my life to make a difference. One of the best things a reader can say is, I may not use drugs, but I see my struggle in your struggle. Your story helps me in my story.

This is similar to the sentiment that I hear from Peter in today’s passage. In it, as Peter knew he was approaching the end of his life, he instructed his audience to continually seek faith, love, self-control, and godliness. He hoped that when he was gone, those who knew him would remember his teaching. Peter didn’t seem concerned with what people would say about him at his funeral. He simply wanted his life to make a difference. He desired to make others better. His legacy – and the thing that others would think about him when he was gone – was that he followed God and that those around him knew God better because of him.

I can easily name those who make me better. At the gym, I’ve got those friends I want to exercise with because I push harder when I’m around them. At the clinic, there are those with whom I want to work because I’m a better physician for them being there. In my Christian life, I can name those who’ve poured their lives into mine. I know those who make me better and in knowing them, I want to be that kind of person to others. I want my life to make a difference and when I’m gone, I want others to be better for having known me.

This isn’t about our self-promotion. This is about God-promotion, knowing that we’ve lived in such a way that makes an eternal difference in the lives of those around us. That is a life well lived.