A few weeks ago I blogged about Max Lucado’s new book Outlive Your Life. It was a book I received free from Thomas Nelson via booksneeze.com. At the time I ordered Outlive Your Life, I also ordered the companion book for teens, You Were Made to Make a Difference, which was written by Max and his daughter Jenna Lucado Bishop, with help from Natalie Gillespie. I had hoped to review both books together, but You Were Made to Make a Difference was back ordered, and so I only now finished reading it.
It follows the same conversational arc that Outlive Your Life does, with the book of Acts as the basis for how to make a difference in the world. But the design and copy are teen oriented (although I feel it is geared more for young teens), and the stories told of people making a difference are all about teens and preteens. It even shares more of the story of Alex and Brett Harris, whose “rebelution” and book Start Here I blogged about back in March.
The user friendly content and the stories of people their own ages should keep kids interested and hopefully give them confidence that they, too, can change the world. Practical ideas for doing just that decorate the pages, and it also provides ways for teens to raise funds to do God’s work. I look forward to sharing You Were Made to Make a Difference with some of the teens in my church. I want to see if it inspires them to do big things for God as they allow him to use them.
As I read the book, it reinforced many of the points that struck me in the adult version of the book, including the idea that we don’t have to be anyone more special than we already are (as God’s child) to be God’s hands and feet in a hurting world.
This passage really hit me:
Prayer is our foundation for making a difference. Trying to change the world without prayer is like trying to use a new iPod without charging the battery. You have to connect to the power source before you can start rockin’.
How often have I tried to do something without first accessing God’s power? Way more than I want to admit. Yet I’m a weakling. I have little strength and even less commitment and motivation. If I am going to impact my world, I need to first spend time in prayer. I need to seek God to change me and to change the world around me. I must have his power to make a difference.
Let’s start right here:
Father, you are the all-powerful one. I’m useless without you. Too easily turned aside to other interests. I ask you to show me your heart for the world, for children in need, for people caught in a cycle of despair. Show me the helplessness of my own condition (even when I foolishly think I am self-sufficient) and lead me to you often so we can talk and you can share your plans with me. I want to be used of you; keep me plugged in to you as my source.
Hoping you, too, are seeking God’s power to change the world.
And while your at it consider buying You Were Made to Make a Difference for a young teen in your life so they, too, can change the world.