IS YOUR LIFE ALL ABOUT YOU, OR DO YOU HAVE CONCERN FOR OTHERS?

SCRIPTURE:
Watch your life and doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, 
because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.  
(1 Timothy 4:16)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever thought about how awesome it would be if
you had a direct influence on another person being saved?
Try to get a visual of a person suffering immensely in hell.
Think about that person’s eyes glaring at you in pain 
and communicating to you, “Why didn’t you help me?”

Now try to visualize that same person walking on the streets in heaven.
Imagine them sprinting toward you and hugging you almost too hard out of 
gratitude for how you influenced the most important decision they ever made!

The Bible talks a lot about love so it must be an important attribute to have.
Jesus was the epitome of love and He is the one we should strive to imitate. 
We can see His love pouring out of His disciples as they made every effort 
to encourage others to give their lives to the Lord.

Those earlier followers of Jesus 
understood the potential they had with the help of the Holy Spirit.
They knew that the Holy Spirit could touch others 
with the words He spoke through them.

However, they knew that they could also have an influence 
on others (good or bad) by the way they lived their lives.
In 1 Timothy, 
we are reminded of the impact we can have on others by how we live.
When we live righteously, we contribute to God’s ministry 
by showing others what it is like to live for the Lord.
We will not be convincing if we claim to be followers of Christ,
but continue to live in a worldly manner and fail to express love.

If someone joined a civic club and tried to convince you to join as well,
but never went to any of the meetings, would you want to join?
Many many who claim to believe in Jesus seldom or never go to church.
What message does that communicate to those who have not been saved?
Even if we regularly attend church but still use profanity, drink, use drugs, 
commit promiscuity, etc. then we are not going to draw others to the Lord.
These are the things God reminds us of when He says "Watch you life
and doctrine closely".
He wants us to be aware of how our actions can influence others.

ACTION:
Does the love of Jesus live within you?
If it does, then you will have a desire to spend a lot of time with Him and 
you will have concern for the welfare of others – especially their salvation.
As we are told in 1 Timothy, you will also have a desire 
to “watch your life closely” in order to “walk your talk”.
Your faith needs to be consistent, constant and firm – this is the character 
others look for in the lives of believers.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to realize the important role I have in 
the lives of others. Show me how to live a life that communicates 
my faith in You to others. Teach me to show others how important 
You are to me. Help me to change my attitudes and habits in order 
to create a pleasing environment for the Holy Spirit to live within 
me. Remind me of how the Holy Spirit can work through me to lead 
others to salvation. Others can see when my behavior is far from what 
is expected of Your followers. I don’t want to cause someone to miss 
out on being saved as a result of the things I say, the way I behave, and 
the lack of love in my heart for You, and for others.”