HOW TO SHARE THE GOSPEL STEP 1 PREPARATION
CHAPTER 3 - THE RIGHT MOTIVATION IN SHARING
To be motivated in sharing the Gospel, we need to look at the reasons for doing it. Zeal without knowledge can be dangerous. Here we will look at some of those reasons by examining scripture motives for sharing Jesus with others.
Discovering the Right Motives
(The "Gas" That Drives The Car.)
We know we can glorify God when we spread His word to others. Our focus needs to shift away from ourselves and our own self-interests to obeying God's word. It is sometimes daunting to imagine yourself sharing the Gospel with others which trigger fear and anxiety. Will others reject us? Will we lose some friends? Will people get angry with us? We can move past this fear by allowing the Holy Spirit to move within us and to guide us.
The Holy Spirit is like "gas," motivating us to move forward. It is the necessary ingredient to make our "car" run. If there is no gas in our tank, we can't move. Even though many of us know it is God's command to spread His word and help people become disciples of Jesus, we do very little of it. I think the reason for this is a lack of spiritual inspiration. Help from the Holy Spirit drives away fear and encourages us to move forward in sharing the Gospel message with others.
What should be our motivation and inspiration in spreading the Gospel?
Let us examine what inspired, prompted, and drove Jesus. Indeed, He was successful in reaching His objectives and targets. He is to be our pattern and example. To this, you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Whatever inspired and motivated Him must also be the encouraging and motivating force driving us.
Things that moved our Lord in reaching out to the lost. The first is:
GOD'S LOVE
Have we encountered "the love of the Father" in our daily lives? If so, how can we not be motivated to want to share it with others? The question to ask ourselves is, is it not worth sharing? Sometimes we have to admit that our love for our Father is not as strong as we would like it. How can we change it? The way to encounter the Father's love is the vital commandment in this concern to love others as Christ loved us. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you (John 15:12). This is because loving one another is critical and essential to experiencing the love of the Father in our daily lives. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12).
The best way to make our love stronger is to spend time learning more about Him from the Word of God (READING THE BIBLE,) getting involved in a caring local church, and fellowshipping with believers that demonstrate their love of the Father for the lost. Without these things to help us, we will not be able to share effectively, we won't be inspired, encouraged, or motivated to share the Good News!
A parent who gets up in the middle of the night to take care of their sick child is not doing so because they love to lose sleep or enjoy cleaning up vomit, but because they have a real, deep LOVE and CONCERN for their child. God's people have the same responsibility to love people with God's love and bring the Gospel message to them. SUCH LOVE! Allow God's Word to have a positive effect on your life. Let us all respond to Him in our daily lives. It is the love of the Father that encourages us to serve Him because we love Him.
HAVE COMPASSION FOR LOST SOULS
Jesus was moved with compassion and tenderness when He saw the mass of lost souls (Matthew 14:14) gathered around Him. The word "compassion" is expressive of the most profound emotion, a yearning of the innermost nature with pity. Such compassion motivated Jesus to heal the sick, provide for the material needs of people, and most importantly, provide for their spiritual needs by teaching them about the Kingdom of God.
The time has come, He said. The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15).
Do we have this same compassion to reach lost souls? If we could have this same compassion for the lost, it would be a great motivating factor in sharing the Gospel message.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).
How can we gain compassion for lost souls? The best way is to let God instruct us on how to love by meditating on God's Word and upon God's love for us. Allow your heart to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading.
Just as Jesus engaged in and connected with the multitudes of people, we must get to know and connect with those lost to share the Gospel. Paul states in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Jesus also had: A SENSE OF PURPOSE, DETERMINATION, AND DIRECTION
In John 4:27, we see the motivating force of purpose in our Lord's conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well as also with Nicodemus, Pharisees, and many others. This Samaritan woman was from a race that the Jews despised, and her own people ostracized and shunned her because she was unmarried and had lived with six different men. While talking with her, His disciples wondered and stood in awe at what His intention might be. Jesus explained: My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work (John 4:34).
This woman at the well reveals to us how God loves us despite all our mistakes. God will seek us out no matter what we have done. It shows our Lord's purpose to look for and care for those who do not care for themselves and see no value in themselves. This is God's purpose and His grace to save a dying world (John 3:16.) For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
Do we have this same awareness of purpose in our daily lives? Do we put the Father's will first? Jesus taught that we should seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33). But a lot of people often have different purposes for living. Ask yourself what your real goal for living is? Is it families, friends, jobs, sports, money, etc.?
(Pause, Think, Consider, and Reflect!)
As we comprehend and recognize God's will and command for us, we learn that our mission is to share the Gospel. Have we allowed the Word of God to develop and cultivate within us the correct sense of intention, purpose, determination, and direction? If not, our motivation will be incomplete! The real purpose comes from reading, studying, and obeying God's Word.
The Holy Spirit gives us the desire and the guidance we need to share the Gospel. To win souls certainly glorifies God. This is an excellent reason and great motivating factor for sharing the Gospel message with others.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
WE RESCUE SINNERS FROM HELL WHEN WE WIN SOULS
Our hearts must be stirred as we understand the dreadful fate of the soul without Christ. This is an excellent motivation for winning souls.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).
WE ENCOURAGE OTHER CHRISTIANS WHEN WE WIN SOULS
Encouraging other Christians is a positive effect of soul winning and inspires us because we are commanded to motivate and enlighten other Christians. When souls are saved, followers of Christ are excited and influenced by our actions. There is rejoicing in Heaven and rejoicing amongst fellow Christians.
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
WHEN WE WIN SOULS, WE ENCOURAGE, ENHANCE, AND ENLARGE THE CHURCH
When we win souls within the church body, those members will assist in promoting the work of God on earth even more. Some churches stagnate and become unable to carry out church programs because not enough Christians want to serve and love others. It would be exciting if all congregation members were to win just one soul. Then those people could go on spreading the Gospel even further.
Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).
WE HASTEN THE RETURN OF CHRIST WHEN WE WIN SOULS
The bride of Christ is referred to as the church. It is made up of all born-again believers from the cross until Christ comes back. When this church is finished, when the final soul has been saved, Jesus will come back once again to get His bride-to-be to Himself. As we win souls, we are assisting in finishing the bride-to-be hence accelerating the return of Jesus. The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray (1 Peter 4:7).
JOY OF LEADING A SOUL TO JESUS!
There is no greater and significant joy than to lead an individual to Christ.
Definition of spiritual motivation:
"Christians that are impelled to push themselves forward, move through difficulties, hindrances, and stumbling blocks, heading ever onward by the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us to lost souls."
God can do amazing things through people to who we reach out to. The Apostle Paul knew this, and he experienced the great joy that helped him to press on teaching the Gospel.
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
The early church looked to Jesus and discovered the encouragement, determination, and motivation necessary to grow as they did. We can easily do the same right now! It is evident by now that the solution to cultivating and building up the correct and effective motivation is to let the Word of God have its desired result upon us. But if Christians are not praying daily, reading the Bible, studying and applying oneself, and thinking deeply upon the Word of God, then how can we ever really hope to stay encouraged and motivated like Jesus, Paul, and the early church were?
Teaching people to "introduce others to Christ" is helping them see people for who they are, where they are, and that they matter to God. Everyone has a story, and that story matters to God. If that person and that story matter to God, then they should matter to us as well.
Don't be disheartened when an individual doesn't show the response that you expected. Understand that new birth is a process. Our purpose is to lift Jesus up (John 12:32), which happens when we introduce the love, kindness, compassion, and forgiving Grace of God. The Holy Spirit will certainly convict of sinfulness (John 16:8-9). If we attempt to impose a sense of guilt or pressure a conversion, the majority of people will turn down our message. When we invite people to come to the Person of Jesus, sharing His wondrous love, many others will be drawn to Him.
A HEART TO HEART TALK
The question is, "What if I don't have enough faith to share the Gospel?"
Imagine if it is winter by a frozen lake. You jump off the dock onto the ice. You had tons of faith, but the object of the faith in the ice turns out to be only a few inches thick. You were wrong about the ice being able to hold your weight, and you fall into the cold water. A few weeks later, the ice is 2 feet thick. With fear and very little faith, you jump onto the ice. This time you had very little faith, but the object of your faith was trustworthy as the ice was 2 feet thick. When writing this part, I saw a true documentary of three men skidooing on ice. All three Skidoos fell through on the thin ice and died in the deep and cold water.
Myself, once skidooing in warm weather, got in the middle of a lake and hit thin ice with water on the surface. Then instinct took over, and I gunned the throttle. I did not stop for any reason until I was over thick ice once again. Another time many years ago, my wife and I were skating on a small local lake at night. We heard the ice cracking and we skated off as fast as we could. Most people did the same and went home. That night a young man fell through the thin ice and drowned.
Drawing a parallel to each day walking with Jesus, we can walk through life self-centered on thin ice, concentrating on all our circumstances, thoughts, and problems, which is dangerous as walking on thin ice. Or we choose to have the right motivation and faith using our source, the Holy Spirit (our Gas as the top picture above), that tells us with certainty that the ice is 2 feet thick. We trust in Jesus in our daily walk (Christ-centered Life.)
Challenge yourself when you start each day: ask the Lord to help you choose to believe the ice is 2 feet thick along with having the right motivation to share the Gospel (Gospel-Centered Life.) Let us choose to walk hand in hand with Jesus (Christ-Centered Life), relying on the Holy Spirit (the Gas), NO MATTER WHAT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES ARE AND IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
It will not be easy as our enemy will throw a lot of thin ice our way. But always remember, as we are living Christ-centered and Gospel-centered life, we will be on safe ground with Jesus, who loves us immensely and will use us to help people discover and encounter the Love of God.
The real concern and challenge is not the quantity and magnitude of faith. It is the object and substance of our faith, which is in Christ, whether or not we are prepared to take whatever amount of faith we have and place it in Him. Even filled with doubt, you can step out in sharing the Gospel.
Our prayer is that these evangelizing study guides allow God's Word and Jesus (the thick ice) and the power of the Holy Spirit (the Gas) to motivate us in witnessing to the lost effectively. If we do not read, study, and consider and reflect upon the Word of God, we will live a frustrated and defeated life. And many will not understand or believe in Christ because they have not heard or seen God's power working in the lives of Christians. It is our time to spread the truth of Jesus' saving work in our lives.
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