Do Something Great With Your Life

New York Times bestselling author and successful business speaker Doug Wead has said, "Do something great with your life!  You weren't made just to sit and watch TV.  You were made to be on TV."  Youth Ministry guru and author, Ron Luce, recently at the Desperation conference called the students to do something extraordinary with their lives.  We need entrepreneurs in the church who will accomplish great things!  Dream big for God.  I have shared their sentiments across the country in the hopes that young people will crawl out of the shadows of others and do something great with their lives.

But how does this play out in the message of the cross?  And just what kind of "greatness" are we talking about here?  Jesus taught his disciples something very different about greatness: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave" (Matthew 20:26-27).  With this understanding, I lay down 3 timeless principles to Doing something great with our lives.

1. Grow
In order to change the world, we must first change ourselves.  Ghandi said "Be the change you want to see in the world."  Read, read, read.  Apply what you learn in your life.  Live it out.
Consider -
What can you do in your life to regularly grow? 
How can you keep yourself on track?
Who can you pull alongside of you to grow with?

2. Serve
Jesus Christ taught that serving is true greatness.  Live your life with others in mind.  A good acronym I've continued to remember is JOY.  The order of importance in our lives should be on Jesus first, Others second, You last.  If we did this ... oh, if we did this!  Marriages could be saved!  Friendships might be restored!  If we understood our place, and dreamt up ways to serve the world, what could be possible!  Start with the simple things, like forcing yourself to do the dishes for everyone else, or so on.
Consider -
How can you serve those closest to you today?
How can you remind yourself regularly to serve?
What kinds of things can you do to serve strangers?

3. Give
Bill Clinton just wrote a book on Giving.  He used to give to Billy Graham's ministry as a young person out of his allowance every week.  I love getting presents, but the experience of giving things away far outweighs anything I get.  Live your life to give.  Make more money to give.  Realize all you have compared to the rest of the world to become a joyful giver.  Do you have extra clothes in your closet?  Consider giving them to someone in need.  Take from your abundance today to help change someone's tomorrow.
Consider -
What little things can you give away that you no longer need?
How can you remind yourself to give often?
What kinds of things can you do to give big and impact globally?