You are important to other people and to God. Your God-given purpose on earth is to help others and to glorify God.

You are important to other people.

“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself” (Romans 14:7).

When you throw a stone into a pond, waves ripple out in all directions. What you do, influences others!

When I was seven years old, my parents decided that it would be good for their children if they started going to church. My mother rededicated her life to God and my father became a Christian.

They spent the rest of their lives serving God. They brought others to Christ, who in turn influenced others for good.

My parents have gone to be with the Lord, but their three children are still serving God on earth.

What if my parents had not dedicated their lives to God?

After becoming a Christian, my father discovered that his mother had been a member of the church of Christ when she was young. But when she married my grandfather, who was not a Christian, she became unfaithful. None of her eight children, except my father, became Christians and she had nothing to do with his becoming a Christian.

How are you influencing others? How are you influencing your children? Are you being a good example by putting God first in your life? Do you pray, and study the Scriptures? Are you a member of the one church described in the Bible? Do you meet with other Christians every Sunday to eat the Lord’s Supper?

You are important because your example influences others for good or bad.

You are important to God.

In addition to being important to others, you are important to God.

According to the Bible, there are three types of people: (1) innocent young children, (2) lost sinners and (3) saved sinners, who are called saints.

All three are important to God because He loves them.

Innocent young children are important to God and He is very angry when someone harms them.

“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’ And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16).

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42).

Lost sinners are important to God.

We all become lost sinners when we are no longer innocent children.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Sin separates us from God: “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

Yet, even lost sinners are important to God because He loves them. He wants them to turn away from sin and be saved by Christ.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

God loves sinners so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross to suffer the penalty for sin in their place, so they could be forgiven!

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Peter told sinners how to be forgiven: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). To repent means to be sorry for your sins, to resolve to change, and to dedicate your life to God.

When you rise from baptism, all your sins are washed away by the blood of Christ (Acts 22:16). You have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16). To be sanctified means to be made holy.

In the New Testament all Christians are called saints because they have been cleansed and made holy by the blood of Christ. Christians “are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

The saints are important to God.

Innocent children are important to God, lost sinners are important to God, and saints (saved sinners) are important to God.

Christians have a high calling. They are priests of God! “To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5, 6 WEB).

When you became a Christian you became one of God’s agents on earth! What could be more important than that?

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Because you are a priest of God you worship with other Christians every Sunday by eating the Lord’s Supper: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

As a Christian, you are important! “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

What you do is important!

If you are a Christian, put God first in your life.

If your daily life has not been what it should be, repent and learn to be like Christ.

If your relationships with other people are not what they should be, repent and learn to be like Christ.

If you are a lazy Christian, repent and be zealous.

A brother in Brussels prayed once: “Lord, be with those who were too sick to come to services today and help them get better. Also be with those who were too lazy to come to services today and help them put you first in their lives.” I thought that was a wonderful prayer.

It is important that you attend services regularly to worship God and to encourage others: “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24, 25).

If you are a lost sinner, repent, be baptized and follow Christ.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who can save your soul?

Are you willing to turn away from sin and dedicate your life to God?

Then be baptized into the body of Christ, His church.

The word “baptism” is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning “immersion”. That baptism is immersion is clear from how the word is used. “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there” (John 3:23). Baptism requires much water.

Paul writes: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death” (Romans 6:4). We were “buried with Him in baptism” (Colossians 2:12). Baptism is an immersion, a burial in water that unites one with Christ.

If your baptism was not by immersion, you were not really baptized.

Baptism must be based on faith. Jesus said: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). When the Ethiopian asked Philip, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may” (Acts 8:36, 37). A baby is not able to believe or make a decision to follow Christ. For this reason, infant baptism is not valid.

Baptism must be based on repentance. Peter said: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). A young child cannot repent because he has not yet committed sins of which he needs to repent.

True baptism is into the church of Christ, His body: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Christ is the Head of the church, “which is His body” (Ephesians 1:22, 23). If you were baptized thinking it was alright to be a member of a human denomination, you were not baptized into the one body of Christ.

Denominations (churches established by someone other than Jesus) do not baptize according to the Scriptures! Because your eternal salvation is important, be certain that your baptism is valid. Be baptized into the body of Christ.

As Peter commanded: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

You are important! Because you are important to God and to others, become a faithful Christian and follow Christ. Amen.

Roy Davison