Winning others to Christ is sometimes difficult, to say the least. Especially in today’s world when scientists and society mock Christians. This is short sighted of course, in a literal sense, our time on this Earth is short and where we spend eternity should be taken very seriously. Most of the time we can only plant seeds and hope that God will make them grow. We have to keep trying to win people, even if it is only by setting a Christ-like example by loving them, and voicing our faith and beliefs.
Jesus did this with us – as it says in John 3:17 – “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Instead of destroying us, he gave us a choice and told us what we must do to be saved. Then he set the perfect example by living a sinless life and proving his love for us by sacrificing himself on the cross. He did this despite facing heavy criticism and opposition from many people, including the Jewish leaders and the Roman government.
Spreading the Gospel and being more Christ-like isn’t easy. We have to die to ourselves and our desires every day. We must help the spiritually sick by telling them about the Gospel and loving them like Christ loved us. This is what Jesus meant in Luke 5:31 when he said it was the sick who need a doctor.
But it is easy to get discouraged because once you try something new or act on your faith, there will be failures, especially as a new Christian. This leads some people to try less and take less risks, particularly when spreading the Gospel or following Jesus’ commands. It’s easy to want to do this because it’s harder to be wrong if you don’t do anything. As Elbert Hubbard said, “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing”
Even Peter had failures, most notably denying that he knew Jesus 3 times. Peter said to Jesus in Matthew 26:33 “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will”. Jesus knew this would happen – and he also knows that we aren’t perfect and will fail sometimes. Experience from both successes and failures teaches us that things are not as simple as we think, and sometimes situations are more nuanced than we imagined. God can use failure to show us a fault so we can grow. If we trust God in every situation and keep trying, our faith will grow and we will be able to glorify God with the results. This is why we must keep trying, we must persevere in our faith because God knows what is possible when we act on faith and don’t give up. James 1:2-4 sums it up nicely: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Don’t get discouraged, especially by the world. It’s always been happening to people of God from the beginning. Despite this, Christianity has grown considerably. Through the faith and perseverance of many Christians before us, the number of believers and those saved have been enormous. It wouldn’t have been possible if God hadn’t first loved us and shown us mercy for our sins. We must do the same for others.