Thank you for believing in me

Read Joey Haynes’ column and check out the church calendar.

Who won the last three World Series? Silence.

Who was the Grand Marshal of last year’s Rome Christmas parade? Most of us would have to look up the answers to these questions. But let’s go in another direction. Who are the three people whose impact has made the greatest difference in your life? That answer is automatic!

We never forget those who have made a difference in our lives.

Outside of family, one of the first people to make a difference in my life was my elementary school assistant principal. Additionally, my third-grade teacher, my Pee-wee football coach, my position coach in high school football, my high school SGA sponsor, my high school Bible class teacher and the first minister I ever worked alongside are people who believed in me and helped me to become who I am today.

Now for the other listthose who gave me a hard time…well, I do remember them, but it wouldn’t really be Christ-like to mention them-now, would it?

It’s easy to remember those people who cheered you on, who always seemed to have your back, who encouraged you with a smile and a kind word. The people who believed in you. And, unfortunately, we also remember the people who discouraged us.

Both groups made us into better people. One group motivated us by their unkind actions, and the other group motivated us by building us up, loving us, guiding us and investing in us. Both groups helped us become the men and women, fathers and mothers and followers of Jesus that we are today. But here is my question: although we remember those who built us up, and although they have offered some wonderful contributions to our lives, do we ever stop and say thank-you? Have we let them know what a lasting impact their encouragement has made to us?

Have you ever written a nice note, taken them out to dinner, or called them for the sole purpose of saying thank-you for believing in me and investing in my future?

If you haven’t intentionally thanked them, I’d like to encourage you to do so. Do it this week! Let them know how grateful you are for the fact that they believed in you. Tell them how much they contributed to your life, and how you use the things they taught you to make a better life for yourself today. Let them know that you are who you are today partly because they made a choice to believe in you!

But let’s not stop there. Beyond saying thanks to those who have invested in us, it would only be right for us to turn around and return the favor by investing in others.

What a great day it will be when you get a phone call, an email or a visit from someone who just wanted to say, “Thanks for believing in me!”