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 is a wife and
mother of two adult daughters. She is the Director of Ministry Partnerships at
Shepherds Ministries in Union Grove,
WI. She serves as WE Women’s Special Events Coordinator
and teaches 3rd grade Sunday School.
