Over the last few days, we have been talking about Jesus giving His ministry to His body of believers worldwide. The Lord is relying on us to share the message of salvation and make disciples of all nations. In our reaching out, there must be a heart of compassion and love for the one to whom we share the message of life. Don’t have a pushy attitude, but be gentle and kind to each person with whom you share the good news about Jesus. An old Christian song says, "You're the only Jesus some will ever see," so be a good representative of the Lord. The Body of Christ is like a many-faceted diamond. The thing that makes the diamond shine and makes it beautiful is the light. We are like vessels to be filled, or diamonds that God wants to shine His light through. We trust in the power of His truth, His light, His love.
Even if you feel that your words are faltering and you feel inadequate, people will sense the love of God in you, and they will respond to His words one way or another. If someone does not respond positively, you don't know what God is doing on the inside with that person. Many people experience a battle within before they finally decide to come to Christ. It is good to wear down a person's self-protective defenses with the love of God. Some people find it hard to accept that God loves them because they feel a sense of guilt or feel unworthy. The enemy, Satan, sows the thought in their minds that if there is a God, how could He ever love them? We must help others as if they are our own children. There is the story of an American family’s son returning home from the Vietnam War:
The phone rang in a high society Boston home. On the other end of the line was a son who had just returned from Viet Nam and was calling from California. His folks were the cocktail-circuit, party kind—drinking, wife swapping, gambling, all the other things that go with it. The boy said to his mother, “I just called to tell you that I wanted to bring a buddy home with me.” His mother said, “Bring him home for a few days.” But, mother, there is something you need to know about this boy. One leg is gone, one arm’s gone, one eye is gone, and his face is quite disfigured. Is it all right if I bring him home?" His mother said, "Bring him home for a few days." The son said, "You didn't understand me, mother. I want to bring him home to live with us." The mother began to make all kinds of excuses about the embarrassment and what people would think, and the phone clicked. A few hours later, the police called from California to Boston. The mother picked up the phone again. The police sergeant at the other end said, "We just found a boy with one arm, one leg, one eye, and a mangled face, who has just killed himself with a shot in the head. The identification papers on the body say he is your son.[1]
Treat everyone you get to talk to as if he or she is your son or daughter. If the person is a stranger to you, he or she is someone’s loved one that is more than likely being prayed for by someone in their family. "Cast your bread upon the waters, and after many days it will return to you" (Ecclesiastes 11:1 KJV). What does that verse seem to be saying? When we give out of our spiritual abundance, do not be surprised when it comes back to you— “give and it shall be given to you, pressed down, packed together, running over, shall be heaped back to you” (Luke 6:38). When we share the Word of God with others, somehow, it seems to come back to us in some way to touch our lives. You cannot out-give God. Keith Thomas
[1] Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations and Quotes, Published by Thomas Nelson, Page 109.