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In last week\\u2019s episode, no. 182, we began our Thankful in November series by talking about being thankful for the last time we experienced something. Today we continue this series by considering the blessing of being thankful for the people who inspire us.

Welcome to You Were Made for This

If you find yourself wanting more from your relationships, you\\u2019ve come to the right place. Here you\\u2019ll discover practical principles you can use to experience the life-giving relationships you were made for.
I\\u2019m your host, John Certalic, award-winning author and relationship coach, here to help you find more joy in the relationships God designed for you.

To access all past and future episodes, go to the bottom of this page, enter your name and email address, then click on the follow or subscribe button. The episodes are organized chronologically and are also searchable by topics, categories, and keywords.

Two words to describe our podcast

If I could use only one word to describe our You Were Made for This podcast, it would be \\u201crelationships.\\u201d And if I could add one more word to the description, it would be \\u201cjoy.\\u201d As in how to experience more joy in the relationships God designed for us. It\\u2019s what we were made for.

Inspire

One source of joy in relationships is to be thankful for people who inspire us. \\u201cInspire\\u201d is an interesting word. It literally means "to fill someone with the urge to do or feel something."

My wife used to love going to a home furnishings store by the name of Inspire. It sold decorative items for your house like pillows, small pieces of furniture, things to hang on the wall. Stuff like that. It certainly filled my wife with the urge to do something. I\\u2019ll leave it to your imagination to guess what that urge might have been. She doesn\\u2019t go there anymore because the store went out of business. At least that\\u2019s what I\\u2019ve been telling her when she talks about going back there. Let\\u2019s just keep that a secret between you and me. Okay?

When my book came out in 2016, THEM - The Richer Life Found in Caring for Others, Writer\\u2019s, Digest Magazine awarded it \\u201cbest inspirational book of the year.\\u201d My purpose in writing the book was to urge people to care better for each other, which would make us feel good about ourselves, because we were made for this.

\\u201cInspire\\u201d: to fill someone with the urge to do or feel something.

People can Inspire us

The Inspire store and my book were intentional about their purpose in urging people to do something or feel something. I would add motivational speakers to these two intentional sources of inspiration.

But for me, I\\u2019ve always been thankful for people who inspire us unintentionally by the way they live. They\\u2019re the examples I would like to be more like. They don\\u2019t tell you how to conduct yourself, they show you. They\\u2019re the people who inspire us without even trying to do so. Here\\u2019s a recent example from just two months ago.

Queen Elizabeth II

When Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, there was an outpouring of admiration for her and the way she lived her life. Ruling England for over 70 years, you\\u2019d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn\\u2019t admire her. A particularly insightful article by Daniel Henninger, one of my favorite newspaper columnists, appeared in The Wall Street Journal a week or so after she died. I\\u2019ll quote a few paragraphs from his piece, entitled \\u201cThe Countercultural Queen\\u201d:

Within the hour of her death, Queen Elizabeth II was praised by commentators from left to right for representing so many traditional values. Reserve, self-containment, duty, responsibility. modesty of demeanor, graciousness, civility, prudence, fortitude\\u2026

What is most notable is that this instant outpouring of media praise for the queen\\u2019s traditional virtues comes amid a contemporary culture that elevates daily, even hourly, a value system of self-regard, self-promotion, changeability, acting out, and anything-goes behavior that is the polar opposite of Queen Elizabeth\\u2019s.

The queen\\u2019s own family reflected this trend. First Princess Diana in the 1980s rode the rising celebrity wave, and ultimately it drowned her. Then Prince Harry married Meghan Markle, known primarily as an influencer.

\\u201cInfluencer\\u201d is the defining word of our times.

An influencer\\u2019s success depends overwhelmingly on one thing: self-promotion accomplished by rising in the hot-air balloons of Instagram, TikTok, and other social media. The goal is to marry marketing with fame. Because influencers do it, millions of others, often young women make preoccupation with self the one habit that directs their lives.

A contrast of values

To say that the queen\\u2019s values were traditional means they existed for a very long time. The poised 14-year-old Elizabeth we heard in news clips reading her first public speech to children during the Blitz of World War II had by then had by then been taught personal virtues held in high regard for centuries in the West and arguably longer in the East.

In our time, however, personal virtue has been demoted by social virtue.

One effect of giving social responsibility more weight than personal responsibility is that it gives people a pass on their personal behavior.

So long as one\\u2019s life is \\u201ccentered\\u201d on some larger social good, the conduct of one\\u2019s personal life is well, irrelevant\\u2026

The queen\\u2019s habits were a source of personal stability. Modern values are a source of instability. The habits of behavior associated with her are not about mere goodness, but about creating a structure of life inside of which one can then perform successfully as a person, hopefully for the good. She did that for her country for 70 years.

Henninger\\u2019s column is a reminder that people who inspire us often run against the grain of contemporary culture. Queen Elizabeth showed us we can live a fulfilling meaningful life when it is based on the personal virtues that have been admired down through the ages.

So what does all this mean for YOU?

A couple of thoughts come to mind. They start with going back to the definition of \\u201cinspire\\u201d I mentioned earlier, \\u201cto fill someone with the urge to do or feel something.\\u201d

Wouldn\\u2019t it be great if people said that you inspired them to be more like you? That because of who you are and how you lived you motivated them to think or behave in a way that may not have been their natural inclination? That because of you they became a better person?

It\\u2019s possible for you to be an inspiration to others when you follow the teachings of Jesus, and day by day become more like the person he created you to be. As that happens, people will notice. And they will be inspired.

Another thought I have is really a question. I wonder about the people who inspire you. What are they like? What do they do to fill you with the urge to do or feel something? And then how do they do it?

This question I\\u2019m asking you is part of the Relationship Question of the month for November. Namely,

What is a story from one of your relationships that you are especially thankful for because of how it inspires you?

Just go to PodinBox.com/John to record your answer using your phone or computer. With your answer, please include your name and where you\\u2019re from. It\\u2019s that simple.

I\\u2019ll need your response by 5 pm Central time on November 16, 2022. Again, head over to podinbox.com/Johnn and leave a message for me.

I\\u2019ll pick several responses to air on our Thanksgiving episode. Who knows, it could be yours! And if so, it will look good on your resume.

A person who inspires me

On a personal note, one person who inspires me is my boss and our executive producer, Carol Steward. You hear her introduce me at the beginning of each episode. In episode 021 I describe how I first met Carol, and how she inspired Janet and me to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus. I also talk about this life-changing experience in chapter 7 of my book, THEM.

You can learn more about Carol and how Jesus has been the cornerstone of her relationship with Janet and me in a two-part interview I did with her in episodes 100 and 101. I\\u2019ll have links to all this at the bottom of the show notes.

Here\\u2019s the main takeaway I hope you remember from today\\u2019s episode

Being thankful for the people who inspire us has a way of motivating us to become inspiring people ourselves. Each day by becoming more like the men and women God created us to be, we model and inspire others to be the person God created them to be as well.

Relationship question of the month

Please don\\u2019t forget our Relationship Question of the month for November.

What is a story from one of your relationships that you are especially thankful for because of how it inspires you?

Just go to PodinBox.com/John to record your answer using your phone or computer.

If you\\u2019d rather not record anything, please email your answer to me at john@caringforothers.org. You can also leave a written response at the bottom of the show notes for this episode in the \\u201cLeave a Comment\\u201d box.

Closing

In closing, I\\u2019d love to hear any thoughts you have about today\\u2019s episode. I hope your thinking was stimulated by today\\u2019s show to be thankful for the people who inspire you. And then to become more of an inspiring person yourself.

For when you do, it will help you experience the joy of relationships God desires for you. Because after all, You Were Made for This.

Well, that\\u2019s it for today. If there\\u2019s someone in your life you think might like to hear what you just heard, please forward this episode on to them. The link is JohnCertalic.com/183. Or scroll down to the bottom of the show notes for this episode and click on one of the options in the yellow \\u201cShare This\\u201d bar.

And don\\u2019t forget to spread a little relational sunshine around the people you meet this week. Spark some joy for them. And I\\u2019ll see you again next time. Goodbye for now.

Related episodes you may want to listen to

180: An Unusual Place to Find Joy
100: Start Conversations with Remembering
101: Life-Giving Relationships
021: The Most Important Relationship of All

THEM - The Richer Life Found in Caring for Others

Last week\\u2019s episode

182: Thankful for \\u201cThe Last Time I Will Ever\\u2026\\u201d

The place to access all past and future episodes

JohnCertalic.com

Our Sponsor

You Were Made for This is sponsored by Caring for Others, a missionary care ministry. The generosity of people like you supports our ministry. It enables us to continue this weekly podcast and other services we provide to missionaries around the world.