One of my favourite movie genres is the whole superhero thing. I just love the message that these movies tend to send out. One of my all-time favourite movie quotes is “…with great power comes great responsibility!” I am probably never happier than settling down for an evening to watch ‘Man of Steel’ or the ‘Dark Knight’ franchise.
Now, the reason for this is very simple—something inside me is stirred by the theme of using our strength to make the world a better place.
I remember when I first read ‘The Code’, it was Code X that caught my attention: “I will use my strength to protect the weak and stand against the abuse of power”. In fact, this Code has made it into my personal list of values to live by. So, the sixth principle I want to share with you is:
I will use my strength to make the world a better place!
As I have previously shared, I love the fact that Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” For me, this is one of the things that happens when the followers of Jesus use their strength to make the world a better place. We don’t just get to pray these words, we actually get to be the answer to that prayer ourselves. We get to see God’s Kingdom in lots of ways here on earth.
How?
Well, in my humble opinion, every time we choose to do the right thing, even when we are inconvenienced, we make the world a better place. Every time, we use our strength to help those in need, or to stop other people from abusing those in need, we make the world a better place. Every time we tell those around us about the love of God, and we introduce them to Jesus, we make the world a better place.
What would it look like if every morning we were to wake up and the first thing we ask of God is “…how can I use my strength to make the world a better place today”? How different would our lives look? How different would the lives of those around us look?
I know a church leader who every night, before he cleans his teeth, asks God to show him any ways in which he has withheld love from his family. Most of the time he doesn’t need to make amends, but on those occasions that he has withheld love from his family he is able to put it right before going to sleep. His family are a great bunch of people to hang out with and I believe it is because he uses his strength to make the world a better place for them.
In each of the superhero movies that I have watched, whether it be Superman, Batman or Spiderman, the hero is far from perfect, but they all intentionally use their power for the good of others.
If we are followers of Jesus, then we have the life of Christ within us. With that kind of DNA, can you imagine what good we can achieve in this world?
The world needs us to relentlessly pursue God, to read His Word and live it out, to not let sin destroy us, to pray constantly, to live with passion and to use our strength to make the world a better place.
Can you imagine what that will do in this world in which we all live?
