Live the Sermon

I spent my whole life (or so it seemed) praying for my mom. She was an alcoholic and had been married and divorced seven times. After my conversion, I preached complete sermons to her. I gave her both barrels of my gospel gun. Yet she didn’t believe. It wasn’t until twenty-five years later that she finally made a commitment to Christ—a month before she died. It took a long time to reach her.

The most difficult people to reach for Christ are in your own family—and you will never reach them through compromise. We need to live the message we are preaching. It is tempting to give everyone a sermon. We want to preach to that unsaved husband or wife or those nonbelieving parents. But there comes a point when we have preached enough sermons. There comes a point when we need to live the sermon. We need to be good examples.

If you are a husband with a nonbelieving wife, then be a good husband. If you are a believing wife with a nonbelieving husband, then be a godly woman. If you are a child with nonbelieving parents, then do the things your parents ask you to do. Be responsible. Apply yourself. That will speak volumes to them.

Even Jesus had a hard time reaching His siblings, and who was a better example than Jesus? He was God. He was perfect. Yet the Bible tells us that prior to His crucifixion and resurrection, His own family did not believe in Him. So if Jesus had a challenge reaching His family, then you will have a challenge as well.

But know this: no one is reached through compromise. God is looking for men and women today that He can use—men and women who will make a stand.