"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

    Recently someone asked me how to influence someone she loved that she might know Jesus. How do “we” help someone else see and come to know Jesus?  How do we qualify to share Jesus?  Each one of us has issues. If we’re honest with ourselves we know we do. If we want to seek the truth in this ask someone who knows you well or even lives with you. We make mistakes. We speak when we should be listening. We want something that we know we should not want. I frequently find myself being overly critical of others instead of being more accepting. We tend to put ourselves first instead of putting others first. Jesus clearly showed us an entire life of putting others first. We are quick to anger. We just don’t seem qualified to share Jesus, do we?

    I believe it was Saint Francis of Assisi who was given credit for the saying, “Preach the gospel, if necessary use words.” I understand that this was not exactly what he said. Apparently at the time, Saint Francis was asking his brothers to avoid preaching the gospel unless they were given proper permission. He added, “Let all brothers preach by their deeds.” Today, we might say this in another way, “People pay attention to what you do, not what you say.”

    For me, this is a wake-up call. I believe most of us know we are not capable of living the gospel perfectly. Our actions fall short of our own convictions. We tend to step outside of the path that we desire most for ourselves. We’re human and we make mistakes. One of the reasons I hear people say they don’t believe in Jesus is because those “Christians” are hypocrites. This line of thinking blows me away. We quit pursuing God through the amazing gift He gave us in Jesus because of other people’s shortcomings.  Shortcomings we may also share. 

    Please reconsider this. We trust people in our lives every day to help us get food, go to work, pursue an education, invest our money and we know that each person we deal with along the way is imperfect. Hall of Fame baseball players might only get 1 hit out of every 3 at bats. We honor them by pursuing autographs, paying millions, wearing their clothing and so on. I am not suggesting that Jesus is batting .300. I am suggesting that as His followers we are imperfect.

    If we can agree on this point, then we can start pursuing Jesus and when we do, He shows up. So, how DO we share Jesus with others?

1. I believe we must seek Jesus in our lives. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Ask Him to be with you and to guide you. Pray. Read the gospel and the rest of the Bible. If this is awkward or clumsy for you then find someone who you believe loves Jesus and ask for help. Go to church even though there are hypocrites there. As my wife once said, people go to movies and don’t seem to mind being there with hypocrites. What better place to be for all of “us hypocrites” than in church hearing God’s word?
2. Use the example Jesus shared with us in His life to learn how to lead our lives.  We’re never too old or wise to learn, especially from Jesus.  Lead your life as if doing the right thing really matters.
3. Read the opening scripture again:

John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

These are powerful words Jesus shared with His disciples, His followers.  If we will put in place in our lives these words then the people you love will come to know Jesus through you.  Jesus called us to love not only our families and friends, but our enemies as well.  Love one another.  Make love a verb in your life.  When you do, you can’t help but share Jesus along the way.