When I look back on how God brought me into His kingdom and began even then to show me how hungry people are to know Him, a key thought stands out to me: All it took to begin my move toward God was the love and initiative of a few caring people.
My mother, who prayed for me every day.
One elderly couple, who loved the Lord and their church. They probably didn’t know how to witness, but they personified love to me and invited me to their church with them.
A group of caring, fun-loving Christian men and women who invited me to a barn party and welcomed me with open arms.
A dynamic, older woman by the name of Henrietta C. Mears, whose love for me and whose knowledge of the Scriptures made me want to know God’s Word, too.
Several Christian businessmen, who believed in hard, honest work for an honest profit, but exemplified the truth that real success comes only in knowing Jesus Christ.
Dr. Louie Evans, the pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, whose consistent lifestyle and intelligent teaching and preaching of the Scriptures attracted me to the person of Jesus Christ.
As I think of these people and their influence on me, I realize that God has indeed called each of us to personify Jesus Christ to the people with whom we come in contact every day.
Loving others, showing them Jesus Christ in word and deed, is not a job for pastors or ministry workers only. It’s a joyful task to which God has commissioned everyone who calls himself a Christian.
To whom is God leading you today, to show love, to share the gospel?
Chances are, you’ll be just as nervous as I was when you begin to share your faith. But my early experiences showed me that you don’t have to wait until you feel “expert enough.” It surely wasn’t my expertise that led Bob and my father and eventually other members of my family to Christ—it was simply the fact that I wanted to obey God, who prompted me to share my faith with them. I was so awkward at first, but God worked His will in spite of me.
The keys were—and are—love and obedience.
Despite my faltering nervousness, God spoke to these people. And you can have the same confidence that, if you reach out in genuine love, God will use you—no matter how nervous you may feel.
By Bill Bright
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