I recently read a great story from a youth pastor. He was talking to his mom recently when she brought up a story about him from 30 years ago when he was 8 or 9.
They were driving home from church on Sunday when he piped up and said, “Mom, my sunday school teacher loves me.”
Curious about what happened, she asked what the teacher said. He replied, “Oh nothing, I can just tell.”
He couldn’t remember the conversation, that day or the events that made him feel loved, but he could clearly remember feeling loved by his Sunday school teacher.
People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
I have been involved in ministry for a few years now, and while leveraging technology to reach more and more people has always been amazing to me, I always get fired up in direct one-on-one ministry. I’ve been involved in student & children’s ministry for years now, and one of the things that never gets old is imagining where all these students and kids will be in 10, 20 and 30 years.
It’s amazing to think of all the potential, all that’s sitting there just waiting to be used by God. It’s scary to think of how many perils are on the road along the way, how the enemy is waiting on the side of the road, ready to devour every wayward soul.
I can’t make the journey safe. And I’ll probably never get to see where the journey takes them in all but a handful of cases.
All I can do is take the few moments I have right now, use them well, and make them feel more loved than they can possibly imagine. In 32 years, they will not remember my name, who I am, or anything about me. But I hope every last one remembers that they felt loved.