It's A Wonderful Life!

I think probably most people are familiar with the movie "It;'s A Wonderful Life!"  For those who aren't, it's a story about a man named George Bailey who arrives at a place in life when he's about to lose everything he's worked so hard for.

"After George Bailey wishes he had never been born, an angel is sent to earth to make George's wish come true. George starts to realize how many lives he has changed and impacted, and how they would be different if he was never there."

And then, at the end of the movie, all the townspeople show up to help him out of his desperate situation and he realizes just how rich his life has been.

That's a pretty condensed version of the movie and doesn't even begin to do it justice, but I think you get the idea.  The conclusion basically showed George that his life DID matter and it was a very important thing that he had been born because so many other lives were affected by his, when he wasn't even aware of it.

No man is an island - our lives touch other lives every single day and we do have an affect on others. Whether it's positive or negative, we do affect others.

Therefore, it does matter how we live our lives.  It does matter what kind of legacy we leave behind because that legacy will live on - in the lives of our children, our grandchildren and for generations to come.  Only God knows the true impact of each life.

Every man has a basic need to know that his life matters.  I think as you get older, you are more aware of this need.  You realize you have more days behind you than you do ahead of you and you want to know that you will leave an imprint when you're gone.

I have to admit I've struggled these past few months to believe that my life matters and to believe that I will leave a worthy legacy.

I struggle with feelings that I am not enough.

Does my life matter to my kids?  Does my life matter to my grand kids?  Does it matter to friends and others whose paths I cross?  Do they really know how much they mean to me?

I wish I were more patient.
I wish I were more loving.
I wish I was more.
I wish, I wish, I wish.........!

It's easy for me to see my deficiencies and wish I was a different person; wish I was a better person. I don't want to miss the chance to leave a legacy that will bless my family and also serve to glorify the Lord.

A new year is always a good time to take inventory, but I think it's also a good thing to do a few times a year.  We need to ask ourselves some important questions -

- Does my life matter?
- Do I live like I know it does?
- Am I making a difference in the lives of my friends and family?
- Am I making a difference for the kingdom of God?
- If not, why not?
- Am I seeking to fulfill the purpose of God for my life?

Am I aware that I make a difference every where I leave a footprint?  Am I making the most of what I've been given? We don't need to be famous or have a lot of money to make a difference. We just need to believe that we can make a difference.  We can affect those that God allows us to touch each and every day of our lives.

My life and your life matters to God and it matters in the grand scheme of things because simply, God says so.  I truly believe that God doesn't always allow us to see the impact that our lives have because it's not by our power or design that we leave that impact. God uses each of us for His purposes and we touch lives as He ordains.

"For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  Psalm 139:13-16 NIV

Our lives matter to each other because they first mattered to God.  All your days were ordained before even one of them came to be!  Does that sound like you don't matter?? God has a specific purpose in mind for you and you do matter.  You matter because He created you.

Personal relationships matter to God - your relationship to Him and your relationships with others. When asked what was the most important commandment, Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:37-39

Would it matter to God whether or not you loved Him if you didn't matter to Him?  It matters to Him. He wants to love you and He wants you to love Him.

You, your life and your sphere in life are no accident.  Your life matters.  What you do with your life matters.  How you live for God matters.  Make the most of it.

It Is A Wonderful Life!