The issue of being influential and important bothers me a lot, especially when I think of people receiving awards as the most influential person of the year.
It is on record that since 1927, Time magazine has annually named an influential person of the year, the first being Charles Lindbergh.
The first woman chosen on that list was Wallis Simpson in 1936.
Others have included Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II, Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi and Vladimir Putin and, in 1999, Albert Einstein was honoured as the person of the century! It may interest you to know that none of these people has ever been named as the greatest person of all time.
Another thing is that, those so named, are not truly universally acceptable; some of us do not even know them.
Time magazine like any other body committed in giving such awards, is just an institution with a peculiar mode of operation.
What interests its management board may not interest the other.
When trying to access people's behaviour and commitment to duty, what interests me, may not actually interest you, and so my own assessment will never have an override influence over that of other people.
In the Bible, the greatest man that ever lived on the face of the earth, Jesus Christ, called John the Baptist the greatest person of the time (Matthew 11:11).
His reason? John the Baptist was known throughout the whole world as the most humble and great prophet.
It was that same John who turned around to consider Jesus as the most important person in the world, "whose sandals he (John) was not worthy to untie".
This revelation of John has not been challenged or doubted by any man ever since.
In fact, there is no basis for any man born of a woman to doubt that Jesus is and will always remain the most influential Person who ever lived.
Many people today long for a great leader to put their hope in, one who will take an interest in them, coach and help to direct the course of their lives towards meaningful goal.
The important and remarkable thing about Jesus is that He is inviting us to have an ongoing relationship with Him, enabling us to learn from Him and become more like Him each day.
To know the characteristics that made Jesus the greatest leader and mentor of all time, we must be able to weigh His words, and actions against those of other people clamouring for attention and discover for ourselves which one has the life-changing power.
Jesus is, without doubt, the most influential person of all time because when He stepped into His leadership role, He drew around Him a band of young men whom He shaped to become the key people in the formation of the greatest enterprise the world has ever known - the foundation of the Christian Church.
No other personality has gained as many followers, and no one else has had as many bow at His feet and call Him Masters.
He towers over every other leader.