effect and affect

For whatever reason, I always have screwed up these two words. They sound alike and are the same amount of letters but mean something different. If you change one letter from “Effect” to “Affect” you change the entire meaning of the word. Effect means the result of something while Affect means influence or to act upon. In this life there are products and by-products; you are either producing something with your life or you are the byproduct of someone else’s decisions and choices. You are the one that is going to decide what happens in your life and not someone else. I think with being a Christian all my life I have expected Jesus to not only give me direction for my life but to take me there as well. It’s almost like we expect Jesus to his part and ours as well. The Bible talks about the working together of God and his will and our actions. We are not exempt from the process. Think about it; to accept Jesus into our hearts (action) to giving our life to him (action) and the constant reminder to spend time with him and reading his Word (action). These are the foundations of having a walk (action) with Christ and completely our decision. In fact, each of these actions elevate the honor of Christ in our lives because they have a level of voluntary action to them. I want my life to be the product of positive actions that move me towards Christ and not the by-product of others decisions.