Have you ever met someone that impacted you so much that you literally went through a change of attitude and outlook on life?
There are many people in the world like this. However, we are so busy looking at the ones that are successful and that are very vocal about their accomplishments, we tend to look in the wrong places.
Marty, the central character in the book, The Richest Man in Town, written by V.J. Smith, was such a person. Born before and being raised during the depression gave Marty a wealth of knowledge and compassion for his fellow man.
Having to leave school during his ninth-grade year to help support his family, Marty worked for a traveling carnival show and was drafted into the Army when he turned of age. He became, as Tom Brokaw would say, a member of the greatest generation and served his country in the Philippines and Japan.
Marty did not have a lot of material things but had the blessings of a loving wife and four children. After WWII he worked in newspaper shops for the better part of 42 years.
When he retired, he wanted to stay active and went to work at Wal-Mart as a greeter. He became so popular that Wal-Mart moved him into a cashier’s position.
Marty never got in a hurry to get customers out of his line and after every sale he would walk around the counter and shake the customer’s hand and say, “Thank You for shopping with us.”
Not only did he shake their hand he looked them in the eye and was very sincere in listening to what the customer had to say to him.
He became so popular among the customers that many of them would wait in line at his register when other lines were empty. The customers wanted that personal touch and gentle spirit that Marty handed out.
Marty was a Christian and loved the Lord. What he possessed and passed on to others were the fruits of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul talks about in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
All of us can learn from the values Marty possessed. All of us that know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior have the Holy Spirit living within us and these same fruits are available for us to use in our daily lives. It does not matter how much money we have, how strong we are, or how well we are known in the community; all we need are the fruits of the Spirit and no one can ever take that away.
