Unlocking Our Hearts For Those That Don’t Know God
Amy had just finished up her morning walk when she approached her neighbor’s home on her way home.
He was out near the front walkway getting the morning paper when he looked up, and there was Amy bright and happy.
She said good morning to him, and he grunted back.
As she walked away, she commented on what a blessing it was to have the sun out. He commented back with cursing about his view on God, blessings, and the sun!
As Amy walked away, her heart sank with a feeling of defeat. Time and time again, she has attempted to spread the Lord’s love to this man only to have him reject her, curse at her, and be downright hateful.
Have you experienced something similar?
Sharing God’s love and attempting to witness to those that are unbearably mean is difficult.
Satan will do everything he can to destroy your effort and rob you of the very love and joy you try to share with others.
He will use grumpy non-believers as instruments as part of his plan to blind them to God’s love and destroy any chance they have to know Christ.
Knowing this, we must fight even harder and be more determined to be joyful, kind, and loving to those that are difficult to like and even harder to witness to!
How do I approach a non-believer that is snarky and just downright mean?
The first thing to do is ask the Lord to give you the right words and actions.
Always act and speak in love regardless of how mean someone is to you. You may be the only connection to God that this person will ever experience.
Always Speak To Them With Respect. Let Your Words Be Kind.
“A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
“Let your speech be always with grace…” Colossians 4:6
Sharpen Your Skills By Reading The Bible.
Instead of leaning on books on how to witness and share God’s love, soak up the words of the best book that has all the answers; the Bible.
There are a lot of books available nowadays that are written by various laypeople on the strategy of witnessing, but they lack the skills one needs to be able to love the unsaved.
Remember That God Loves Them No Matter How They Are.
It’s difficult even to attempt to witness to someone that is mean much less show them kindness and love.
We forget that they are a person that may have things in their lives that have caused them to be the way they are. Perhaps they need to know that someone in this world loves them.
Sometimes the most hateful and mean non-believers are the ones that need to know God’s love the most.
Be Patient And Trust God To Change Hearts.
We are not in the business of changing people; God is. Through His grace, you can only cultivate kindness, be forgiving, be ready to listen if that person wants to talk and be prepared to share the gospel.
You can point them in the direction of God, but it’s up to God to lead them the remainder of the way to Him.
If someone becomes dangerously rude and mean, you will need to walk away.
David trusted God to know when it was the right time to do battle with Goliath.
God gave David the wisdom to know when to fight and when to walk away.
Sometimes we have to trust God to handle others that have decidedly crossed the line of being defensive and mean to a rather compromising situation that may place you in danger.
There are some who are unsaved that are not angry with you personally but with God or Christianity in general.
You represent the very thing that they detest and work against.
Pray For That Person.
“But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44-45
Plant The Seed
Don’t grow weary of doing good especially when you encounter difficult unbelievers when trying to witness or share God’s love. Our faith gives us the power to do great things.
When those that are unsaved see our faith and love, the very seed of God’s love has been planted in their heart.
Consider your encounters with the “unlikeables” as blessings to be able to plant that seed!
