What is YOUR approach when you're wanting to share with someone about Jesus? If you try to share Jesus with someone on the street, their response may be, "What? Who are you? Why are you talking to me?" But, IF you offer them Jesus with a whole different approach, and you end up hearing this, "Is this the Jesus that fed me when I was hungry, that helped my teenage daughter through her pregnancy, that helped me reconcile with my family, that gave me hope and direction when I had none? I want to know this Jesus."... THEN, you have allowed Christ to touch them through you and opened a door for His Spirit to work through.
The point I'm making is that Jesus touched people by sharing love and healing and ministering to their needs, meeting them where they were. The woman at the well and her relationships, for instance. The woman caught in adultery. The way He included the boy in the feeding of the 5,000 miracle. He didn't issue a load of orders to them and expect them to obey before touching them. He ministered to their needs, right where they were.
If we can simply show God's love in our attitudes as well as in practical terms, I believe we cannot help but make a difference. Get involved in some way that touches people's lives. Feed the hungry, visit the elderly, house the homeless, encourage those without hope, help the helpless. Minister God's love. Don't just speak it, but show it, act on it. They will only see Christ through us first.
It's good to go to church week after week and to "witness" to people at work but it's not enough. We must SHOW God's love, as He did, in practical terms. Sometimes I think we, the Church have a hard time looking past our doctrines long enough to meet the needs of the people.
Many of the things mentioned here that Jesus did....if we would do all those things, I believe that we wouldn't even have to mention Jesus because they will SEE Him in us. And then they will get to the place where they will feel compelled to ask, "What makes you this way?" And there, my friend, is your open door to share, because through the process of making them your friend first by loving them, by serving them, spending time with them, you have developed a friendship and earned their trust. Their heart will be ready not only to receive your testimony but to receive your JESUS.
Why do we always seem compelled to shove our beliefs down their throats? I find that I say this a lot...."It's all about relationship." Your relationship with the LORD....and your relationship with others.....which takes us to the two greatest commandments.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, & mind and...
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
And how does one develop that relationship with the LORD? By "Waiting At The Window" daily, my friend. Begin each day talking with Him and learning to hear Him through that "Window of Hope"... His Word. Begin praying for "divine appointments". He will lead you to those in need and in the process, you'll find that YOUR needs will get met as well.
God bless you all,
Connie Schmoll
