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As a blogger one of the most important things is gaining a loyal following. You want people who love you and love what you say. The more eyeballs that see the site the better. Not only will a greater percentage follow you but there’s more people that could buy your product or something you recommend.
So often in the world we’re told that to make a difference we need to have a HUGE following. The more Facebook Friends we have, the more likes we can get on an Instagram post the greater our impact on the world will be. While that may be true for some;
I want to remind you of Someone who had less than 20 loyal followers and changed the world!
His Name? Jesus. Jesus changed the world with just 12 disciples–12 loyal followers! More than 2,000 years later people are still talking about the difference that He made and the mark that He left on individual lives! And it makes me wonder, are we making things too complicated? In today’s society it’s easy to tie our identities and success to the number of likes on our last selfie, or the number of followers that we have.
In reality that’s a very poor indication of our success and it’s NOT who we are. We are defined by who God says we are and success looks different for each and every person.
I typed the words “define success” into an internet search engine: “The accomplishment of an aim or purpose”. I love this particular definition and it begs the question, what is our aim? What is our purpose? As Christians our aim should be to live lives that are pleasing to God. We want to be a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…” (Romans 12:2). We should desire to do “whatever {we} do, heartily, as to the LORD and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). Our success should be tied to how well we are living our lives for God, not the number of likes we got on our last post or how much money we have sitting in the bank.
I then did the same with the words “define identity”: “The characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is”. As Christians, what are the characteristics that determine who we are? The Bible tells us that once we become Christians our old lives are gone (2 Corinthians 5:17). When God looks at us He doesn’t see us as messed up people, He sees Jesus’s sacrifice. Through Jesus, we are chosen royalty (1 Peter 5:7). He has saved us (Ephesians 2:8) and He doesn’t condemn us (Romans 8:1). We aren’t just conquerors, we are MORE THAN conquerors (Romans 8:37)! And that’s just the tippy-top of the iceberg! Our entire being and identity changes the minute we choose to follow Him!
In the end it really doesn’t matter how many likes, shares, or followers we have. What does matter is how we’ve loved God and loved our neighbor (Mark 12:30-31).
Do we put God first in our lives and try to honor Him? Are we loving our neighbor like He loves us? Are we being salt and light to the world around us (Matthew 5:13-16)?
Until next time,
Bailey Sue
P.S. January can be a lonely time. The holidays are behind us, it’s dark and sometimes snowy. As a result it’s easy to forget how loved we are. If you need a reminder check out my book below. It’s available in E-book and paperback.
P.S.S. Our family recently watched the Kendrick Brothers movie “Overcomer”. The movie is a great reminder and encouragement of where our identity is found.
