God wants to use you and I to win others to Christ. There is no greater thrill in life than to experience the Jesus who is alive and then lead others to the Lord. But when a family member or very close friend puts their faith in Jesus, we experience a special joy—especially if that person has resisted the gospel for a long time.

To know Jesus is to love and obey Him. That’s when we know real joy. Not the “joy” of the world that depends on circumstances, but the joy of the Holy Spirit that only Christ’s disciples can experience. And when we truly love our Lord, we will want family, friends and others to know the joy of the new spiritual birth and assurance of eternal life in a new heaven and earth.

I want to share some lessons on teaching you how I share Jesus with others. Sometimes it can be so easy when we meet someone who is searching for truth and peace. Other times, it can be more difficult—especially with loved ones who may not be so eager for spiritual discussions. So let’s begin there—right at home—with love ones or friends who may not want to listen to our words but who are watching our lives. We can earn the right to “talk it” when they see our lives that “walk it.”

REFUSE TO GET DISCOURAGED

There are many frustrated Christians who thought that the moment they gave their lives to Jesus all of their loved ones would shout “Hallelujah” and follow the pathway to the cross.

When that didn’t happen, many of my Christian friends became discouraged. Some called themselves failures, others doubted God’s reality or at least His willingness to keep His promises, and still others tried to force their loved ones into the Kingdom.

Finally, some just gave up and thought their loved ones would be lost for eternity. I know—because I have known frustration over loved ones. I have also probably made every mistake possible in trying to win them to Christ. I knew Jesus as a living reality in my life and I wanted everybody in my family to have the same glorious experience. When I tried to get that message across, some avoided me and a few showed interest.

PRACTICE PATIENCE

For years I prayed, claimed Acts 16:31, and bound every demon in hell. Then I started praising God for the answers, with no apparent change in loved ones. Sometimes they even seemed to move further away from God than before I had started to pray. There were times my faith was shaken and Satan was there to tell me that my prayers weren’t working. I tried the “repent or perish” message to loved ones and then the opposite extreme of the silent treatment. I heard about other well-meaning Christians leaving tracts in the bathrooms, under tablecloths and under loved ones’ pillows that only made them angry and bitter. Others learned a dozen different plans of salvation, hoping that one of them might push a “magic button” in their loved one’s heart.

WE ARE ABOUT TO LEARN HOW

I have had people in many different places of this world come to me with broken hearts. The Christian wife whose unsaved husband rejected her witness. The Christian teenager whose unbelieving parents were convinced his experience was fanatical and hoped it would soon pass. The believing husband whose wife yawned every time he brought up the name of Jesus. Each of these desperate people was looking deep into my eyes saying, “How can I witness to my loved ones, when they don’t want to listen?”

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Cecilia Contreras