Jesus and Marmee Say It All

How is it that some people make us want to be "better"? You meet them, you might even be friends with them, and whenever you're around them, you have an inexplicable desire to be the best that you can be. It isn't a guilt trip, it isn't an obligation, it isn't a crush, it isn't necessarily that you're trying to gain their approval, and it isn't that you are comparing yourself with them unfavorably. They don't make you feel put down; they make you feel as though it's possible to become more than what you are. Somehow, they work their way into your thoughts and they become the muse of your integrity. There is no sense that they are trying to "fix" you, and they are certainly not perfect people themselves, but they inspire you nonetheless. Louisa May Alcott created such a character in "Marmee" in her book, Little Women. Marmee has her girls wrapped around her little finger, and they know it, and she knows that they know it. They simply trust each other so much that it doesn't bother them. May I suggest to you that God created the same for us in Christ Jesus? Scripture makes it clear that we are the "salt of the earth". I heard an author read excerpts from one of his books recently, and he made the point that salt is not a flavor in and of itself. It does, however, enhance the flavor of many of the things that it is combined with. When we are striving to be the "salt of the earth", we are not trying to produce some sort of artificial "flavor" or attitude. What we are doing is enhancing the presence of Christ in ourselves! When we are in Him, we are a new creation; to be the "salt of the earth" is to behave like what we already have been re-created to be. I don't know about you, but I want that more than I've ever wanted anything in my life- and that's saying a lot! I want to become the sort of person that has no need to guilt trip people, no cause to instruct others in holiness, no place from which to look down on others or judge them, and yet at the same time someone who has a profound impact on the people that he meets. Authentic to the max, down to earth, willing to say the hard words, and encouraging all rolled into one. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that this is who Christ is, and that delving deeper into my identity in Him will cause me to be more like Him.