As Christians, I think we sometimes feel like it is our job to make sure all of our friends, family members and teammates come to faith in Christ. We spend our days trying to do all we can to be a perfect example—saying the right things and serving in the best ways in order to make sure we can have the best possible influence. We think that doing things for God is what our complete focus should be.

For the majority of my time in college, I didn’t have any Christian teammates on my basketball team. Because of this, I put pressure on myself to be in the Word, to go to church and to pray enough just so that I could see all of them at least start to pursue more of God in their lives. But I eventually came to realize that wasn’t God’s aim for me. Nor, is it the aim for any of us.

Yes, He desires to use us in this way, but the bigger picture is that He wants us to know Him more. It’s not our job to save others; it’s our job to pursue more of God each day. We should desire such an intimate relationship with Him that our lives can’t help but reveal Him to others. If we only focus on ministering to others, we’ll miss out on getting to know Christ Himself. But if we take the time to develop a relationship with Him, the more we’ll be like Him. Then, out of that relationship, we will naturally become representatives of Jesus to everyone around us.

Now, talk about being an influence for Christ! Truly, getting to know Him for ourselves is the best way to bring Him to others.