Letters of Recommendation

In all our history, society is at the height of self-promotion. You don’t have to attend a large University to be a marketing major. Everyone wants to be the next bombshell, the next big thing, the one everyone talks about.  Relationships are leveraged, connections made, a good amount of schmoozing and inauthentic investment in others, and it is only so long before our motives are naturally revealed.

While companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have so many great strengths, every once in a while, I get annoyed. Not so much with the website itself, but when I cross paths with certain types of people. You know those people, right? You get a notice that a complete stranger is following you on Twitter, you feel flattered. You notice their profile only talks about what they are selling instead of who they really are. And within a day, after you followed them back, they have disappeared. These people have thousands of followers, but where are the relationships?

Jesus had thousands of followers, too, but it was ALL based on relationships.

I will NEVER forget when I heard The A-21 Campaign founder, Christine Caine, speak and she said 

"It is better to be marked by God, than marketed by men." 

Her words ring in my heart on nearly a daily basis!

In 2 Corinthians 3, the Apostle Paul exhorts a timeless practice, a signature of those who have been marked by God.

 “Are we beginning again to tell you how good we are? Some people need to bring letters of recommendation with them or ask you to write letters of recommendation for them. But the only letter of recommendation we need if you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts, and everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.”  --2 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NLT)

True evidence of a World Changer, begins with changing the world of an individual. Paul preached the gospel, stuck his neck out on the line, was obedient to every humble job God called him, and he was, undoubtedly, a world changer. In all of his letters he greets and acknowledges people by name. He knew them, loved them.

These scriptures made me wonder WHO might be my living and breathing letters of recommendation? Who are those that are BETTER OFF because of me? Who is walking in obedience? Who is taking huge steps of faith? Who is filled with more peace, more joy? Who is free from insecurity, because I modeled confidence for them?

I think of my children, my friends, my family, neighbors, co-workers. My husband just stepped into a new role as a Children’s Pastor at our church. Each little girl or little boy, will be a reflection of Christ’s love in me. It’s not a once a month “high-five”, or cool costumes and silly skits, (though, I DO LOVE the silly skits!!)  It is the connection, the relationship, the life-giving prophetic words of hope, the trust to be given responsibility, the grace for when we fail. These moments build a legacy.

What do your letters of recommendation say about you?

>Do they reveal that you overcommit yourself? That you live without discipline? That you live only for yourself? That you stick to surface level concerns instead of eternal vision?

“Clearly, you are a letter from Christ prepared by us. It is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on stone, but on human hearts.” – 2 Corinthians 3:3 (NLT)

What are you doing TODAY to change the world of those God has put around you?

I pray that my letters will be long lasting! Eternal destinies altered. Generational curses broken. Faith lifted. Marriages stronger. Freedom flourishing! God glorified!