Running, more then a weight loss plan

Ok so its been awhile. I have to admit there is less of me now then before. You see, I've lost 35 pounds in a little over 3 months by starting a running program. I even ran in a 5K last Saturday! Running has been a surprising blessing for me these three months. It has given me some dedicated "me time" to think and process, as well as scheduled physical work-out time. I have held tightly to my run schedule and my neighbor even told me to write "BUSY" in my calendar during those times.
I bring up my neighbor because that has been one of the sweetest surprises of this 2012 "campaign". That's what I'm calling it, since its an election year. My goal is to drop 100 pounds by election day, a mere 2.5 pounds a week pace. But back to the neighborhood, that is where I run. See I don't own a treadmill and going to the gym requires time AND pre-planning to bring change of clothes, shower etc on the way to work. Plus some days I don't have to go to work, and the gym is on the way, TOO COMPLICATED! So I run the streets of my neighborhood. Here is what I found, people have noticed. The neighbor across the street, different then the aforementioned neighbor who is next door, caught me after my cool down and asked me about the running. I told her the program I was using (C25K) and that it played through an app on my phone, all I had to do was run when it told me too! She said, "I have to start exercising". I told her, "start with walking". Well a week or so later, who do I pass on my run, my neighbor! This time I stop and she says "its my first day, wish me luck!"
Well stories like this continued. I have met more people in my 'hood in these 3 months then I did the first year I moved. Even at the 5K when I was running I came up next to another runner and they turned to me and and told me I was their inspiration! "I see you out there every day and it inspires me!" That last comment is what sparked the thoughts below and this blog post.
How come it isn't this easy to inspire people to live better Christian lives? That was the question that bounced around my head on the next run. The answer for us as Christians is, are we giving people a life that is an inspiration for Christ? A lifestyle that can't be denied as Christian. One that truly models the Master we serve?  1Corinthians 9:24 tells us that all runners run but only one gets the prize, run in such a way that you get the prize. If we want to inspire people to become Christ followers, we have to live lives that inspire them to do so! We don't have to be perfect people to inspire people to want to know about Christ. I told you I want to lose 100 pounds this year, I've only lost 35 so far, you do the math. I don't have the body of a runner, at least not yet. But I am committed to the process and the goal. If we are committed to the process and the goal that Christ has for all believers, that is to inspire all we come in contact with to be like Jesus and serve God, He can use that. Our Christian lives can be inspiring to others. They will stand up and take notice when we are consistently committed to model Christlikeness. It takes hard work and effort. But it is hard to inspire anyone without it.