Breathe Life into Others

New Testament Greek scholar, author, and pastor, Bill Mounce, recently gave some very helpful reflections in "The Cycle of Life - Personal Reflection". In this brief personal account, Mounce reminds us of all the opportunities which constantly surround us to make an impact in another life for their good - even eternally.

For those of you reading this, may I encourage you to breathe life into those around you so that when you run into them in the years ahead, you can feel this sense of gratitude and affection that you should, and that your son or daughter will take great delight in meeting the person who so influenced their mom or dad.

I really liked his word-picture for discipleship, "breathe life," and may commandeer it for personal use. As disciples of Christ, we must not too often measure our "impact" in the world beyond individuals. This is a lesson, even in pastoral ministry, that I continually grow in learning - as well as one at which I have admittedly failed far too often in the past. Let's seize each encounter and relationship to seek the love of Christ for the good of another.

NB, for more from Bill Mounce see his blog. Note that "Mondays with Mounce" at Koinonia are always helpful as well. For the interested, I have found his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles to be the "go-to" reference on my shelf for that portion of Scripture.