Change a person, change a community. Change a community and change the world. The progress is simple, though the actual happening a little more daunting.

I often think of the people who are changed by spiritual parents or mentors.

For me, my friend Jack, long before I came into the Kingdom pointed me in the direction of God. He spent hours talking to me about relationships. People I interacted with in business and my community. Family members, and particularly my wife at the time and my daughter. His brand of change came though soft spoken words and simple encouragement. I could truly be having the worst day on the planet, pick up the phone and he would begin to sow into me. One time I had gone through a violent episode, choking someone. I fully expected to be sitting in the back of a police car shortly. I called him. (Long before the days of cell phones.) He said to me, “it’s okay. So, why do you think you responded that way?” Whether he knew it or not he was forcing me to look at me and my responsibilities.

The more Jack sowed into me, the more I changed. The more I changed, the better I became. The better I became, the better my relationships became.

Another man came into my life at another time. His name was Bob. He sowed. The more he sowed, the more I changed. The more I changed the more things around me changed.

The value of a spiritual parent is seen in the changes that come in their relationships. As a “spiritual child” grows in their faith, valuing their pursuit of Christ and life expressed through them, nearly every other relationship they touch will be positively affected. Friends, family, co-workers, employees, and more will see the changed life. The combination of the Lord working with His children changes everything. This new life has the ability to change people around it. It brings healing, causes others to want to consider Him and has the the influence to move others towards change. (Gal. 5:23-24)

How much were the lives of a nation changed by a Martin Luther King or a Billy Graham?

A spiritual parent or mentor can change a family, empower a community and even change a nation. It is time to look beyond the one. When I work with my grandchildren I am not fully thinking of what they will accomplish, I am thinking of the change they will bring to nations. When I meet with one of my spiritual children I am seeing them affect the world for the goodness of the Lord.

Do not despise small beginnings…