Be a Moment Maker

I make moments on a daily basis because I want to know that when life has decided it has had enough of me, it’s gonna be because it is exhausted from trying to keep up.

Moments are fleeting, but they can have a huge impact. The experiences we have in those moments, good and bad, are what shape who we are and who we become.

We were created by a God who wants us to live fully alive and on purpose. He gave us a model of how to live this way in Jesus. We are to be engaged and pay attention – just as Jesus was. Always on the lookout for what can be created, received, or rescued.

He shows us how – how not to be a Moment Taker, but to be a Moment Maker.

We are put here with a purpose, and that plays out in what we do with each and every moment we draw breath.

Moment Making is all about using time to create a story worth reading. Not everyone is going to write a book about their lives and sell it on bookshelves. But we all write a story through our lives that will be read by those around us. And through that, we have an opportunity to have an impact by touching just one other person. And that, by extension, will change the world.

As you begin this epic journey of making moments, keep these three truths close at hand:

1. Creating Moments Has Nothing to Do with Cash Flow

Sure, having a stacked bank account is fun. But that’s almost too easy. In fact, the stacked bank account can actually stifle our creativity when becoming Moment Makers. As the old saying goes: Necessity is the mother of invention.

When you have limited funds, you have to rely on ingenuity and being attentive to what is around you. Anyone can buy a moment, but not everyone can create a moment.

2. Creating Moments Is All about the Now before the How

The word how can kill your moments… the word now will breathe life into them. When we start over-processing the schematics of a moment, we miss out on the beauty of everyday Moment Making. Yes, huge moments are epic and need planning and strategy, and we will talk about those.

But I’ll say it till I’m in my hearse: Life is too big to fit in a bucket.

Those bucket lists are fun, but quit staring at the bucket list and start finding the everyday moments that you can create now. The how will fall into place. I promise.

3. Make Your Moments – Don’t Make Theirs… or Mine

There is nothing worse than a copy-and-paste moment. We live in a world filled with YouTube marriage proposals and reality show dreams. God has placed a unique design inside of your heart to make moments unlike any other. Don’t cheapen what He has created in you by just carbon copying what is inside someone else.

When someone feels the true worth of who they are because you stopped what you were doing and made life about them, you have hit on an essential component of Moment Making.

Can’t you see that truth in the very presence and being of Jesus? Look at Matthew 20:28:

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

We all know that Jesus served everyone He encountered. He was all about making the moments with them about them – showing them they were loved, that they were valued by their Father in heaven. But think about it. It wasn’t just in what He did while He was here that we see Him making moments for us. The fact that He came and hung out with us at all is a monumental moment in the history of humanity.

Jesus came to do something incredibly special for us. He came to make sure we knew our worth, our value to God.

He pulled out all the stops to show us that we matter. He literally came from Heaven to earth! I’m no theologian – but this is pretty massive, right?

If you bought a ticket and flew across the country to see me, I think I’d be blown away. But Jesus? He’s like,

Hey, I’m gonna come down from Heaven for thirty-some-odd years. How’s that for love?

So, as you start looking for ways to make the people in your life feel special, remember the key:

It’s not about just making a moment that stands out and is spectacular. It’s about making someone feel valued through that moment. Because of the thought you put into it. Because they know they are worth that much.

Excerpted with permission from Moment Maker by Carlos Whittaker, copyright Zondervan.

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Your Turn

Creating moments does not require much time or money, yet the impact can last a lifetime. What is one of your favorite moment-making memories? How can you make the people in your life feel loved and special today? Join the conversation on our blog! We want to hear from you!