Gandi… Wow, I just watched the movie last night, and it powerfully impacted me. What impressed me the most was the power of influence. Gandi did not just live for his own life. He did not just try to be the best person that he could be in himself; he went out to influence people. Imagine telling an entire nation not to fight. Imagine trying to impact that many people, to tell that many people that it is for their benefit that they lay down their anger and do not resist those that are against them with bloodshed. Imagine telling an angry mob that they should not fight! And then imagine actually believing that they will listen! Wow. Gandi knew what he believed, and he knew it so strongly that he was not afraid to tell the entire nation to live it. Imagine the doubt that must have went through his mind. Imagine how he could have questioned “What if I am wrong?” But he simply stood strong on his position, and he literally changed a nation. He caused a nation to quit fighting simply by believing it was possible and living that belief out!

            Imagine believing so strongly in your cause that you do not only live it, but you also influence others to live it!  I am deeply challenged. I live my life generally feeling like I am only responsible for myself. I allow others to have their own beliefs, and live their own lives even if I feel like they are completely wrong. I do not seek to impact. I allow the Bible and the words that I read to impact only myself, I do not seek to allow them to impact those around me. I see the life of Gandi, and I see the incredible power of influence. By myself I can make a small difference in the world around me, but if I seek to influence others, if I seek to make my life a call to others to follow Jesus as well, then I can make a huge difference in the world. There is such an incredible power in influence! I have realized that I am so wrong, so terribly wrong. My job is not just to live for myself, its not just to follow Christ myself the best that I can. It is to influence.

            My challenge and my question today is, how strongly do you believe in Jesus Christ? How strongly do you believe in his power to change lives? And are you willing to allow that belief to permeate who you are so strongly that you are willing to actually take responsibility for leading a nation in that direction? There can be no questioning “What if I am wrong?” You must be so strong on your position that you believe without a shadow of a doubt that you are leading many people in the right direction.

            It is not until we are that strong on our beliefs that we can make an impact. But if we can say “I know whom I have believed”, and truly mean it, I believe that we can change a nation. Psalm 2:8 says “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” God wants to give us the nations, but we got to believe him! Are we willing to stand on what we believe, to be confident enough in the truth of it that we are willing to impact nations? How big do we believe that our God is?