Top 5 Ways to Impact Someone’s Life
By: Justin Fatica
1. Know what they Love and fall in love with what they love
When you meet someone who you want to help to know the love of God make sure to find out what they love. Is it sports? Is it books? Is it theatre? Is it democrats or republicans? Is it gardens? Is it a boy band? What do they love? Now ask God to help you love those things as long as it will not lead you away from Him. This first step, even if you do not like what they like, will give you a common bond to create a relationship that will last.
I remember a few years back one of our donors asked me if I could help them impact their daughter’s life. I said, “What does she love? He said, “She loves this boy band.” “Which one?” I asked. “I think it is One Direction.” I responded with “Well love One Direction and that will be the window to your daughters’ heart!”
I called this donor and friend a week later and said, “So how is it going with your daughter?” He said, “You won’t believe it one of the boys in that band is a virgin and a Christian.” I was excited and said, “Great, now you can start with that.” He then said, “No I am going to France with her to go to a concert.” WOW!
Now that is how you impact someone’s heart.
2. Start with Encouragement
Most of us cannot go to France to win the hearts of those we love or those God put on our hearts. However, we can keep encouraging. We have to stay encouraged and have the courage to encourage even when it seems bleak. The core of impacting people’s lives is encouragement. Send daily texts just to encourage, or call them and leave a message. The only way you will not be a blessing and encouragement for this person is if they tell you to stop calling. Then you have to respect their boundaries. Start with encouragement and make sure you are the most loving person they have ever met in their life.
3. Share your Suffering
When you hit a brick wall, share your suffering. At times you need a stopping point to say “Hey, I have been through this...This life is not easy...I have not always been like this...We can do this together.”
Your suffering will lead each person you encourage to the resurrection in their life. This is the point where you become totally vulnerable and has to be a prayerful, discerning time. This has to be the moment you share something that you would only share with those closest to you. They will know in that moment you mean the world to them. Now you have to remember people can use your vulnerability against you. They can use your authenticity to say you were a fake or whatever, but this is your chance to stand with the criminals and share that you too were saved by GRACE.
4. Serve regardless of the result
Mark 10:45 says, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life for the ransom of many.” We need to be like Jesus and not let our service become weary. We need to keep serving and caring for souls. Right now, we all should have 3 people God is asking us to reach out to. Stay focused and give it your all to care for their hearts.
5. Have people join in impacting this person’s life
The key to impacting someone’s life is getting them to a community. Help them find a community that can take them to the next step. Any priest, pastor, psychologist or leader will tell you that the only way to impact someone’s life is connect them with a community that will keep them going in tough times. We all know what sometimes people will impact our lives at one time and then later on someone else will. It takes a village to raise an idiot let alone someone who is really going to make a difference in this world.
We need each other and we can’t do it without one another. Together we are stronger and the community will be the shoe in to make sure that the seed you planted stays strong and tall.
One time, a young person discipled stopped going to church and I said to him, “Where are you going to take them after you heal them to encourage them and help them?” He said, “I will develop that.” “You want to develop a 2000-year-old infrastructure?” I asked. He said, “I can’t do that.” My answer was “Exactly get your butt back to church.” Now he is going to Daily Mass and leading others to do the same
