Read Luke 19:10

Do you ever find yourself praying for strength to deal with “lost” relationships? Friends, family members or co-workers who have walked away from a once-shared faith? When prepping for these interactions, my prayers usually at some point shift to me.

“Lord, please give me the correct words to say.”

“Help me to not be easily offended.”

“Lord, allow me to achieve Your will in their lives.”

Those aren’t bad prayers necessarily. But, if I am truly seeking out Christ’s will, I have to realize my role within the process. And to be honest, the process has very little to do with me. The scripture in Luke reads: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” This is the goal of Jesus. His main job. He saves the lost…

I can’t.

When I truly allow myself to meditate on this, I can feel a literal weight lift off of me and a deep sigh come from my gut. It’s a small mind shift with massive results. My role in these “sometimes unfriendly” environments is now not to save but to celebrate being saved!

My prayers for these situations now begin with: “Lord let the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control that you have supernaturally given me, let these genuine (not faked) traits overwhelm the room, the relationship, the conversation I am about to have. I am not in charge of what you are doing but I am in charge of ‘who I am’ while you are doing it”!

If the goal of Jesus is to seek and save the lost, then my goal is to be His greatest billboard!

I’ve witnessed more friends come back toward Christ, not through my opinions or apologetics (which are also a wonderful tool to have), but rather their burning desire to attain the fruits they glimpse in me that I have received in Christ: unfathomable peace, undoubtable love, uncontainable joy, unexplainable forgiveness…

There is nothing more lonely or scary than being lost. There is nothing sweeter than being found.

Thank Christ right now for seeking you out and for the mesmerizing fruits of the spirit He has growing inside of you. Also, be sure to pray for any relationships that came to your mind as you read today’s selection.

Christ never stops seeking the lost…and neither should you!

Nate Torrence