3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

The longer I live, the more I am impressed by faith sustained over the long haul. Your faith in Christ lived over time sends a powerful message to your family and your community. The practices we do one time in our life will not create a legacy and speak to people. The things we do repeatedly will create an impact. Here are three ways you can increase and sustain your influence for Christ.

* Realize that the power of your testimony grows with time. With time, your influence reaches more and more people and is proven genuine. John stated that he had no greater joy than to hear that his children were walking in the truth. The life you live gets repeated. The choices you make eventually define you and spread to other people. I am certain that your life influences many more people than you realize.

* Realize that the direction of your life is greater than the imperfections in your life. Jesus did not choose you to follow Him because you were perfect. I am convinced that Jesus is more concerned about the direction of our lives than He is about us attempting to be perfect in this life. The Bible says in Proverbs 24:16, “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” Each time you get up from failure and keep running after God, you are sustaining your influence for Him.

* Realize that growing influence follows growing people. John said he rejoiced in finding his children “walking” in the truth. This speaks of application and pursuit of Godly things. The best way to sustain God’s activity in your life is by staying active in your personal application of the truth. The more we are conformed to His image, the more we influence others.

Today’s Challenge: Realize that the life you live is gaining influence every day that you stay on the path of following Jesus. Jesus is not looking for perfection, but a continued direction toward Him.