My Greatest Contribution

August 20, 2025

For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. Romans 14:7 NLT

Andy Stanley has famously said, “Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something you do but someone you raise.”

Paul reminded us that life is not a solitary journey. What we say and do echoes in the lives of others.

Both completely true. The opposite is also true. What we DON’T do makes a difference as well. The things we ignore, the opportunities we leave untouched, the words we never share – they shape the future. The investments I make in other people may very well be the greatest contribution I make to the world, even more importantly, the greatest investment in the Kingdom of God. The investments I casually neglect or actively overlook may very well become my greatest failure and regret.

The investments we make in young people are hard to overestimate or over exaggerate in importance. I have numerous times been able and fortunate enough to pray at the deathbed of an older adult soon to leave this life, leading them to faith in Christ. While I am, of course, grateful they finally made this choice, my heart is far from full. I grieve over their lost influence and the people I know they could have influenced with their lives. With a “deathbed” conversion, a soul is saved. When a young person comes to faith, a soul is saved and much more – an entire life is rescued, and they can tremendously impact the world.

A friend of mine, connected through extended family members, lived life as a “charming sinner.” He didn’t mind that distinction – he enjoyed his habits, addictions, and lifestyle enough to ignore the slow slide into the same life patterns his teen and young adult sons were making. They loved him, and when he was diagnosed with extremely aggressive cancer, he asked them to call me. I came. They stood at his bedside and heard him choose to repent and accept Jesus as his Savior. Everyone cried tears of relief and rejoiced. Except me. I wept with the realization that if the future went as it usually did, the boys’ lives would be far more marked by the life he lived than his last-minute choice.

More than a decade later, his sons’ lives mirror the broken relationships, addictions, pain, and prison that defined their father’s life, despite their repeated chances. Praise God that one son is slowly changing in the last year because he has chosen to receive the love and faith investments of a few family members. What kind of a story in the making do you see in your own circle of influence?

• God, You have designed and equipped me to be an eternal difference maker in the lives of people. Help me see and invest in every young person I can. I want to be used to save souls AND lives.