Shaping

I chose yesterday’s quote because we have a tendency, I believe, to make a big deal out of the apparently important moments in our lives.

But I’m not sure what we perceive as monumental events are necessarily what shape us.

C. S. Lewis reminded us – mostly me – that it’s the small, daily choices that add up like compound interest over time. A decision that may seem insignificant at the time combines with other similar choices to shape our character.

I’ve recounted, perhaps too often, the story of my original two-block handcycle ride. I thought it was a dumb idea, and only did it to get 4 friends to stop harassing me about it. Of course, that single small decision led to days and weeks and months and years of enjoyment and fitness, and eventually the opportunity to serve kids rescued from human trafficking.

All of us have moments like that in our personal story. We might not even remember them, but Jesus uses them in subtle ways to guide us and to gradually shape our character to be a bit more like him.

A couple of weeks ago at the FREEDOM TOUR CLASSIC, a small army of volunteers chose all sorts of tasks that made the event possible. I thought about what it would be like, for example, to stand at a street corner for 90 minutes so a group of cyclists made the proper turn.

Few people see that small act of service. It would be tempting, standing there when no cyclists appear for several minutes, to wonder if you were really contributing.

True service, I think, is often exactly like that. It requires an attitude not common or comfortable in our culture. Certainly not comfortable to me.

It’s. Not. About. Me.

I suspect it’s precisely these moments Jesus compounds, one upon another, to shape our character to be more like him.