UnMemorable
By Becci J. Terrill
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:30 (NKJV)
Recently, a friend and I were discussing
wedding planning. She has more experience in this area than I, so I appreciated
her wise advice. Every bride wants her wedding to be memorable, but every
bride’s budget is different. My friend said that with the many expenses
involved in a wedding, it is best to prioritize areas and focus on those that are
most important. One area that she addressed specifically was food. As you can
imagine, this is a huge expense for any wedding, and it is difficult to please
everyone - - no matter what your budget might be. She said their goal was that
the food would be “unmemorable.”
Unmemorable? That didn’t make sense
to me until she explained. Their goal was that guests would enjoy the food, but
it wouldn’t be the focus of their memories - - rather they would remember the delightful
time spent with family and friends.
This piece of advice stuck with me,
and caused me to look at other areas of my life differently. So much of life is
focused on gaining a good name and reputation for one’s self. We want to be remembered
for who we were and what we did. We even have special places where we remember “unknown”
soldiers. The idea of being “unmemorable” would be the ultimate failure.
But in Scripture, I read about
people like John the Baptist, who spent his entire adult life pointing people
to Someone other than himself. He didn’t want attention. He lived in a desert,
away from people, but people came to him. Instead of talking about himself, he told
people about Jesus. He made statements like, “He must increase, but I must
decrease.” He didn’t want people to remember
him. He wanted people to remember Jesus.
What about me? When I step in front
of people, my first concern should not be “What will they think of me? Will
they enjoy what they hear?” My first and
only concern should be “Will people see
Jesus in what I do? Will they hear Jesus speaking through me?” My life should
reflect Jesus, not me. He must increase, and I must decrease. He should be
memorable, and I should be unmemorable.
Face it. We all want to be
remembered. Let’s be the kind of people who are remembered because of Jesus.
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
What do people remember the most about you? If Jesus isn’t at the top of
the list, how can you change that?
FURTHER
READING:
Study the lives of John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul. Both men had great impact for
Jesus, and neither cared what others thought of them - - only Jesus.
Becci Terrill
is a wife and mom to two adult daughters. She is the Children's Ministry
Director at Oakwood Church.
