Winning Life Coached by the Holy Spirit: Recruiting and Final Thoughts

Recruiting

A final aspect of growth is sharing. If we have found something that is good medicine for our souls, do we not want to share with those we meet?

Sharing our faith is something we need to analyze, evaluate, and strategize on a regular basis. Every Christian who has been Spirit-filled should be considering the following questions on a regular basis:

• What have I done with the gifts/charisms I’ve been given by the Holy Spirit?
• Have I used the gifts/charisms to bear fruit?
• Do I actively live Christ’s teachings in my marriage, my professional life, and my family life?
• How do I contribute to increasing the following of the Gospel and helping others live better lives despite the changing times in which we live?

If we are walking with the Spirit daily, we will find ourselves driven by a burning need to share with others what we ourselves have learned. We can share through active evangelization and service.

The burning desire to share what Jesus has done for us results in a desire to evangelize. According to the online etymology dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=evangelize, last visited 1/2/2017), evangelize first came to us from an old French word, evnageliser, meaning to spread or preach the Gospel. The old French word had its roots in both Latin and Greek; the Latin word was evanelizare from the Greek euangelizesthai.

In effect, evangelization is nothing more than sharing the Good News of Jesus and His redemptive work on the Cross as well as His resurrection from the dead.

How do we do this? We must start by our actions, not our words. If our lives don’t match with our actions, we will be ignored. In the words of a popular Contemporary Christian song, “If you want to lead me to Jesus | you’d better find a better way |’Cause your life is speaking so loud | I can’t even hear a word you say.” (Full song available on YouTube, but I would warn you the images are a little Goth.)

We need to start with our actions with our families and close friends. We need to show them concrete acts of love that speak to them. I have three children. For one child, this might mean taking her out and going hiking. For another, it will be hours in front of the computer researching all the information we can find on the latest focus topic. For the third, it could be just sitting together and listening to music.

Some call this the “love walk” — we literally walk the agape love of God in our daily lives. When those closest to us see these changes, they will ask questions, and then we should be prepared to answer them gently about why we’ve changed and what we’re doing. In addition, if they are ready, we should lead them through the same process that turned our hearts back to God.

We will also want to watch for opportunities to evangelize outside our families and circle of close friends. These will be much more rare. Also, they will have to be treated much more delicately. We can’t ride in to save the day on a white charger wielding the Bible like a sword to thwack the Good News into their skulls. We must simply share our story and plant the seeds. Let it be up to God to water and weed and bring them to the point of making a decision on their own.

We don’t have to share the Gospel in words alone. We can also do it through good deeds or acts of service to people we do not know. I have written from a Protestant perspective on the Roman Catholic concepts of Corporal Works of Mercy and Spiritual Works of Mercy. While I’ve not yet brought them over from WordPress, I would encourage you to click the link on each type of work for my (not-so-humble) analysis.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for following this series through to the end. I’ve shared some basic Christian premises using analogies and word pictures from football.

I’m hoping you’ve asked the Holy Spirit for a renewal of His Indwelling in your heart so you could kick it up a notch and take your faith walk to the next level.

This is a great start…but it’s just that, a start.

In the real world off the Internet, we need to look at ways we can live what we have learned. We need to become more connected with our home faith communities. We need to find others who are like-minded so we have the benefit of their experiences and advice. We need to participate in Scripture study, both as individuals and with a small group. We need to watch for and accept the challenge of walking willingly into situations where we can serve Christ in others.

God is doing so much. I am confident that He will continue to help us grow and turn toward Him. In the words of Paul in Philippians 1:3–11:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.

Thanks again. Now I return you to my regular musings and meanderings.