The way that I see Christianity is that its role is to enhance the life of every person.
John Shelby Spong
We are called to enhance the life of each person we encounter. Who is every person? Every person includes our family members, our extended family, our friends, our community, our co-workers, all people we come across wherever we may be.
Let’s first understand what enhance means. Here are a few synonyms: appreciate, boost, enrich. Let’s talk about each one and how it reinforces how we are called to enhance the life of every person.
How can we appreciate others? Each individual has a perspective that we can learn from if we take the time to listen to what he or she has to say. Each individual has gifts that he or she can use and share with their families, places of work and community. We must appreciate and celebrate these gifts. We must give them the opportunity to use and share these gifts. In turn, we appreciate when others allow us to express our gifts. Finally, we cannot take for granted the love and friendship that we receive from others. We must allow ourselves to receive this love and appreciate how our lives are enhanced by having these people touch our lives.
When others are depressed, lonely, frustrated, overwhelmed, scared, and lack confidence, we are called to boost them. When they are depressed, we can listen. If they are lonely, we can be their friend. If they are frustrated, we can provide assistance. When they become overwhelmed, we can provide a helping hand. If they are scared, we can let them know they are not alone and we will not leave them. When they lack confidence, we can provide words of encouragement. We can let them know that we have faith that they can accomplish any task they set their mind on.
We are called to enrich the lives of others. How can we do this? We can stand with the marginalized and persecuted. We are called to accept them and support them. We can invite them to join our community. We can love them unconditionally. We can simply let them know they are valued. We can allow them to feel free to express their humanity and know they are accepted.
When we enhance the lives of others, we love them unconditionally. When we enhance the lives of others we allow them to be all that they can be. When we enhance the lives of others we help them express and experience the fullest life that only God can provide. Imagine the impact this could have on the world if we each spent a small amount of time each day to ENHANCE another person.
