“What you do has far greater impact than what you say.”
– Stephen Covey
As we slide into the end of 2025, I’ve been thinking a lot about influence these last few weeks – the real kind. Not the stuff we post on socials. The stuff we live.
Because whether we realize it or not, every single day of this year we were modeling something. For our kids. For our teams. For the people who watch us, follow us, trust us, and quietly take their cues from us.
And that’s why “Who’s Your Timothy?” hits even harder right now.
“More is caught than taught.” – John Maxwell
Timothy didn’t become Timothy by accident. Scripture makes it clear – he was shaped by the patterns he saw. His mother Eunice and grandmother Lois didn’t run a leadership seminar… They lived faithfully. Their quiet consistency marked him deeply enough that Paul recognized it years later.
That’s how influence works.
* Not loud.
* Not flashy.
* Not forced.
* But steady. Repeated. Modeled.
Now here’s the uncomfortable truth as we close out 2025:
Someone learned from you this year – whether you meant to teach them or not.
- Your child learned how to handle pressure by watching how you handled it.
- Your team learned how to navigate conflict by watching how you responded.
- Your people watched your joy, your frustration, your discipline, your faithfulness, your habits.
- And in ways you’ll never fully see, they absorbed it. So here’s the reflection question for this month:
What did your “Timothy” learn from you in 2025?
Did they see consistency or chaos? Faith or fear? Humility or ego? Accountability or excuses? Commitment or convenience?
This isn’t shame. This is stewardship.
God places people in our care, at home and in leadership… And He expects us to grow through the very patterns we model.
And now we shift our eyes toward 2026.
We can’t rewrite 2025, but we can mine it for wisdom. We can look back with honesty and ask things like…
1) What becomes a non-negotiable moving forward?
2) What habits get carried into 2026 – and what habits must die this month?
3) What leadership gaps did the year expose?
4) Where did my influence strengthen others… and where did it unintentionally weaken them?
Leadership is legacy. And legacy is built one day at a time – one modeled behavior at a time.
So here’s the challenge as we prepare these last few weeks to step into a new year:
- Lead like someone’s becoming a Timothy because of you.
- Lead like your patterns matter.
- Lead like your influence is shaping someone’s future – because it is.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear
Here is what I know – 2025 taught you something. Don’t leave that wisdom behind. Carry it into 2026 with intention, clarity, and conviction.
And when next December rolls around, may your Timothy be stronger, wiser, more grounded, and more equipped – because they spent another year watching you.
Finish 2025 well. And lead even better.