The One Who Is Weak In Faith

Romans 14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

We are enjoying a bit of a snow squall this morning. It has been a steady snow over the past couple of hours and the grass has almost disappeared under a blanket of snow. Many in our community thought we were perhaps finished with Winter. God has a wonderful way of surprising us.

How often do you and I encounter someone in our daily walk who has little faith, no faith, or faith in the wrong thing?  I would say, in my life, it is very frequently that the above happens. Take a moment and give this some thought. Who did you encounter yesterday that met the above criteria?  Did you strike up a conversation with that person(s)?  Did you ask them about their faith? And if you did, how did you approach that conversation?  Was it in love, or confrontational in nature?  We have a tendency to try to win people over by confronting them with what we perceive as the truth. If your approach is to try to win them over by smacking them between the eyes with all the subtlety of a two-by-four between the eyes, we will seldom if ever win.  Speaking the truth in love is our mission. There is a ministry out there call The Truth In Love ministry that shares openly and lovingly with those who are in need of hearing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Taking a page from their philosophy we do not get in the face of others, we welcome them. We need to establish a conversation where love and respect is readily apparent to all. We need to allow the words of Jesus that are filled with love, support, truth and encouragement to change hearts and minds of the lost. We need to foster and environment where the Holy Spirit can work faith in their lives. I had the opportunity to see Aaron Shust in concert a while back. He has a song "Give Me Words To Speak" that you can find at the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Xk6sc62EY
When we are given the opportunity to speak we need to pray first, then speak. Not try with our words, then ask for the Lord's blessing on what we have done. When we seek the Lord in our efforts we are reminded we are serving Him, and not trying to glorify ourselves by our feeble efforts at evangelism. Pray, then speak should be our mantra. "Welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions" is very deep. Let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting. We just need to afford the Spirit the opportunity by creating an environment of encouragement with those we encounter who are "weak in faith."

PRAYER: Father we look to You for guidance in reaching out to others. We seek Your will in our ministry efforts towards the lost and weak in faith. Show us Lord the fields to harvest. Guide is with Your thoughts and Your words. Let all that we do glorify You and You alone. This we ask in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.