Can One Person Make a Difference
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
In our vastly populated, impersonal world, it is easy to underestimate the significance of one. With so many people, most of whom seem so much more capable, more gifted, more prosperous, more important than we, who are we to think our part amounts to much? I’m just one person, who cannot make much difference.
That’s the way most folks think. They really do!
Aren’t you glad Patrick Henry didn’t? And Henry Ford? Martin Luther King, Jr.? Walt Disney? Martin Luther? Winston Churchill? Jackie Robinson? Irving Berlin? Abraham Lincoln? Charles Wesley? Dwight L. Moody? Corrie ten Boom?
“But it’s a different world today,” you say. “Back then, there was room for an individual to emerge and stand out in a crowd, but now, there’s no way!”
Wrong. God has always underscored individual involvement . . . still does.
- How many did it take to help the victim who got mugged on the Jericho Road? One Good Samaritan.
- How many were chosen by God to confront Pharaoh and lead the Exodus? One.
- How many sheep got lost and became the object of concern to the shepherd? One.
- How many were needed to confront adulterous David and bring him to his knees in full repentance? One.
- How many prophets were called to stand before wicked King Ahab and predict a drought? One.
- How many did the Lord use to get the attention of the land of Israel and prepare the way for Messiah? One.
Never underestimate the power of one! And that one just may be you.
Copyright © 2025 by Insight for Living and Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
About the author
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.
