Level Up! : Influencing Faith Driven FriendshipsSample

Petty Things Pass Away

Today, I'd like you to consider people you engage with from day to day. How many people around you throw shade and gossip because it’s funny and socially acceptable? How many binge on TV shows that support ideologies contrary to scripture? How many of your friends have believed this sexual culture and use their bodies to gain attention in hopes to improve their self worth or celebrate vulgarity in conversations or a lack of self-restraint in daily affairs?

Though our world celebrates these petty little things, we know it doesn't satisfy. Nothing done in the flesh will survive eternity. It will all eventually pass away, so our mission in friendship should be to point towards what will last forever! Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control ... these things come from a relationship with Jesus. They are eternal and an accessory to our Salvation! But the world doesn't know this. Some of our friends don't understand this. They need us to tell them. They need us to be a lighthouse in their darkness by directing them to Jesus - not just for immediate contentment from guilt or shame, but for enduring reconciliation with our Heavenly Father, who gives good gifts that never expire. 

Deep inside, people all around us are churning with spiritual dissatisfaction. They are looking and digging and crying out for more. They are starving for peace, for purpose and for passion. They are desperate for light and love and life but they don't know how to attain it on their own. They are lost and they need help. They need a friend who loves them enough to find them and share the hope of Jesus Christ with them and to tell them that the stirring in their souls can never be quenched by  self-help, self-improvement, self-determination or self-expression. The answer is not in the mirror, in our closets or bank accounts. It’s only in Jesus.

I’m reminded of the woman in the Bible who lost a coin. She abandoned her day and her to-do list to frantically search for the missing one. Jesus likens this to how we should search for the kingdom of Heaven and how He, the King of Heaven, chooses to search for us. But there is another lesson in this story that I find so profound. The woman was so insistent on finding what was lost that she was willing to put her previous priorities to the side in pursuit of wholeness. She was happy to sacrifice her time, her efforts, her agenda and her comfort in order to rescue something that was lost. Scripture says that this woman sought the missing coin with all of her might, and once she found it, she called all of her friends to join her in celebration (Luke 15:8-10).

Ladies, are we so determined to share the Gospel that we are willing to abandon everything in the process of leading others to Christ, even if it means sacrificing our self-images and agendas? Are we compelled to share the good news that value, self-worth, and identity can only be found through a relationship with Jesus? Are we looking under tables, rearranging our timelines and seeking out opportunities to find the lost, like the woman with the coin? I want you to know that there is at least one person in your life that needs your Christ-centered friendship to influence their hearts. There is someone nearby who is lost and looking in all the wrong places. They don't know how to look for Jesus on their own. They need a friend like you to show them and lead them to the only One who satisfies! There are so many lost and hurting people around you who need your love and friendship! 

Please ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to the lost coins in your life who may be spinning around, right under your nose! Believe that God has equipped you with every good resource to share the Gospel and be the friend who reaches out and points to Jesus!