Originally written in 2013. Updated in 2025.
How the “Make a Difference Faith Perspective” Can Change Lives
Do you feel like you don’t have the resources, the influence, or skills to make an impact in this world, not to mention in an individual’s life? Do you sometimes feel like you wouldn’t be missed?
Would you believe me if I said you were wrong… Do you sometimes feel like you wouldn’t be missed? Would you believe me if I said you were wrong and that it could just be you have a skewed view of the real impact you have on society and in people’s lives? How can I be so sure? Well, everyday whether you realize it or not, someone’s life is affected by you.
Someone is depending on you; maybe it’s a child, an elderly adult, a friend, a family member, or your husband or wife. It could even be a clerk at the store where you buy your coffee or someone else in your day to day life who depends on your smile or interaction to make their day more complete. It is easy to dismiss simple encounters like these as unimportant on the surface, until we consider how seemingly insignificant interactions such as these have impacted our own lives.
Author Leo F. Buscaglia said “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
It is apparent that you can make a difference in an individual’s life, but do you realize that because of a sort of ripple effect, that the impact is actually on a much larger scale?
But maybe you are still not convinced
Do you donate your time or income at a church or local charity? Do you donate used items or clothing to a thrift store? Have you ever went on a church serve project or supported a mission overseas? Again, because of the ripple effect, if you are involved in these activities you are making a difference in people’s lives and having a worldwide impact. But as the need gets bigger, it is even more important that we combine our efforts and each do our part. In the Bible you can find a good illustration, using the body as an example, of the importance of
Working together as one body
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
If they were all one part, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, but one body.— 1 Corinthians 12:15–20
Bottom line, we have all been given individual gifts and talents. But to make a worldwide impact, we are all needed for success. Sometimes I think we can get the best perspective from a child’s eyes — because they don’t look at the big picture and think they are unable to make a difference.
Instead, they look at the present situation, take action, and believe they can make a difference immediately. The following story is a great illustration of childlike faith in action, and I believe we can all learn from her example. It is adapted from a story written by Loren Eiseley:
One day a little girl was walking along a beach where thousands of starfish had been washed up during a storm. As she came to each starfish, she would hurriedly bend down, pick it up, and proceed to throw it back into the ocean.
People watched her with delight and in wonderment. When she had been doing this for some time a man approached her and said, “Little girl, what are you doing? Look at the starfish on this beach! You will never be able to save all of them. You are wasting your time, there are so many of them on the beach, you can’t even begin to make a difference!”
The girl, who would smile each time she threw a starfish back into the ocean, now seemed crushed, and suddenly had a sad look on her face.
But after a few moments of thought, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it as far as she could back into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and said:
“I made a difference to that one.”
We all have a starfish moment.
Maybe it was a kind word. A helping hand. A quiet prayer when no one else saw.
What’s one way you’ve made a difference—or someone made a difference to you?
Drop it below and inspire someone else today.
Remember—sometimes the smallest act of caring… has the power to turn a life around.