How You Can Make a Difference

So, you want to make a real difference in the world… but you don’t know where or how to begin.

As we’ll learn on today’s podcast, we can make a difference in the lives of others by simply asking, “How are you doing?” In a world where so many people are hurting, we should never underestimate the power of greeting every person with genuine care. It can save a life—even our own!

This week, host Yael Eckstein explores the Bible story of Joseph’s time in an Egyptian prison and how the simple act of greeting those around him—with sympathy and with understanding—changed his life, and ultimately, changed the lives of millions of people.

Each one of us, just like Joseph, can bring more of God’s light into the world and take care of those around us—and in this episode, we’ll discover how.

And listen to more of Yael’s Bible teachings on her new podcast, The Chosen People.

Episode Notes:

Today’s podcast focuses on Bible verses from Genesis 40:1-7:

“Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

“After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, ‘Why do you look so sad today?’”

“Why do you look so sad today?”

The Bible tells us that this one simple question was a turning point in Joseph’s life. Even with everything that had happened to him—his brothers betraying him because of their jealousy and being sent to prison in Egypt by his master under false accusations—Joseph still managed to ask this question to those around him, showing just how compassionate he was, even as he faced such hardship.

And today, Yael challenges us to do the same.

How often do we interact with people… but never stop to see how they’re actually doing? It’s such an easy thing to do—and something each of us can do even more of!

When we greet someone, no matter how brief the interaction, we connect with another human being and spread a little more of God’s light into the world. And as people of faith, we all want to spread God’s light into the world. So let’s learn how today!