Christ has given each and every one of us a specific mission whether we know it or not. We are called to discern what that specific mission is, and use our gifts and talents to accomplish this mission. Many times you may not know that you are using a talent to accomplish a small part of your mission from Christ, but he is always working through you to touch other people in some way. Many times I find Christ in other people: through the things they say, the things they do, the way they treat other people, whatever it may be, I know that they have Christ in them.
We find God in our lives in many different ways. Some people see him in nature, others in music, but I find God at work in the people he has placed in my life. The way that they work in my life, and they way that they demonstrate Christian manhood/womanhood in their lives. These people help me to see God's love at work in my life, and give me a wonderful example of what it means to live a Christian life.
Although many people have impacted my life in great ways, there are other people that have impacted my life in small, yet meaningful ways. Many people have impacted my life without even knowing it because they are complete strangers. It is important that we treat everyone around us with respect because we never know what is going on in their life at that moment. It is easy to focus on our own hardships or annoyances, and forget that the person behind us in line at Wal-mart may be having the worst of days.
One way that we can help one another is through simple acts of kindness. They do not have to be grand gestures. It could be a simple smile, "hello" or "how are you" that makes somebody's day. When I have had the roughest of days, it has been someone doing a simple act of kindness that has turned my day around.
Another way encourage one another is to look for Christ in each other. This is easier said than done. We all have people in our lives that just grind our gears, but they are sons and daughters of Christ, too. They have a specific mission that they are living for, too. We are called to help one another obtain heaven, and so we should be encouraging one another in our journey rather than tearing one another down.
I am, by no means, perfect at any of this. I have my rough days and totally forget that other people are having rough days too. These are things that require continual growth. It is not something that is going to happen overnight, but it is something that we all have the ability to improve on if we make the decision to change. We are all human and we all make mistakes, but we should encourage one another and build one another up through the good and the bad.
