How to Love the Lost

Did you know Jesus said to love others as He first loved you! Is’nt that amazing? God does not want us to just share his love with others. He wants us to truly love others! Loving some people is easy. Especially when they agree with you. But how do we love lost?

They are often very different than we are. They don’t believe what we do. In fact, many strongly oppose all that we stand for. That is all true, but the Bible doesn’t say just love fellow believers. It shows us that we should extend love to all people just as God does. Even those lost in a life of sin.

Romans 5:8

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Understanding the Unbeliever

To love the lost you have to really understand the loss. Of course, we were all in that place at one time. Sadly it seems as though we forget what it was like. An unbeliever is just that. Someone who does not believe in God. Therefore it stands to reason that they also do not believe they need to keep the commands of the Bible.

With that being said we need to understand that we can’t view them as we would other believers. There is no reason to expect unbelievers to live a life according to the Bible. Since they do not view it as truth. This is not to say that they are not still sinners. It simply means we can’t expect them to be anything but sinners for they do not know what they are doing.

So to really love the lost do not approach them with the wrong mindset. We can’t hold them to the standards set by the Bible. Instead, show them the love that resides in the Bible. Extend grace and be the example of God in their life’s. You will never change a life through condemnation and hate. But love can change a life. We are all walking proof of what love can do.

Love To Help

Loving the lost requires more than just a kind word and a friendly smile. Those are important but if you truly love someone you do not want to see them suffer. News flash! The world is suffering. Everyone searching for what will make them happy. As Christians, we know that happiness is only found through a relationship with our Heavenly Father. That true joy can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:8-9

8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Love To Save

Sharing that joy with others is great and being able to help them find that same joy is even better. But joy can only go so far. Sadly more suffering waits in the next life for those not right with God. The Bible says that sinners and the lost will be cast into a burning lake of fire. To be tormented and punished for eternity. Shut out of God’s presence.

Revelation 21:8

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

2 Thessalonians 1:9

Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

The subject of hell is scary and not something many want to talk about. But it is real and it is waiting for those who are lost. Only a right relationship with God through Christ Jesus can save someone from the eternal punishment of sin.

So if you truly love the lost then you must help them to see this truth. We should not want to see one soul sentenced to a horrific eternity in hell. So what do you do? How do you keep people from going to hell? By sharing the gospel with them!

Sharing The Gospel

It is the duty of every Christian to reach out into the lost world with the intention to save them. The task is never easy and at times can be a little scary. We often do not know where to start. Nor do we know how much someone already knows about the scripture. Bellow is an example of how to share the gospel with someone you love.

First, you have to be honest. Tell them you do not agree with their lifestyle. In your eyes and the eyes of the Bible, the life they are living is considered sinful. But the good news is that even in that God loves them as much as someone living a pure life. Just as you love them. Along with that when they are ready Jesus will be here for them, just as you will be. For nothing they do will ever cause them to be so far gone that they can’t be saved.

Inspire Interest

The goal is not to scare someone with scripture. Or force them into Christianity. It is to cause them to think and question this world. Hopefully leading to more interest where they start asking questions and show an interest in what the Bible teaches. Upon that you can begin to introduce scripture that backs up your statements. For example John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.

Or Matthew 9:10-12

“Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum? ” When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”

While that is all true it is crucial that you gracefully explain how important it is they change their life. For life can end an instant and we can never know the time that it will. So it is important they understand that the sooner they turn their lives to Christ the better. For we are not promised tomorrow. But we are promised that death comes to all.

Life’s Changed

For someone who has a burden to love the lost this is the best part. Seeing a life changed by God is one of the most amazing spectacles in the world. Forget the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall of China. Seeing those cannot hold a flame to taking in the glory of God’s work.

I met a man who came to know Jesus in Brushy Mountian State Prison. As he talked he expressed such joy in knowing the Lord. He had at one time been the prime example of a hardened criminal. He would have been described as heartless or even evil.

While listening to him talk about his past it was hard to believe this man could have done those things. He was so fired up for the Lord and so sorrowful for his past. After meeting him I discovered an old tv news story where it showed him before knowing Jesus. This was not the same man I had met. His life was changed by the power of God!

He is not alone either! To compile every testimony of a life changed would be impossible. God has the power to do what we think to be impossible. He can sober the drunk! Clean up the drug addict! Repair marriages! Wipe away the fog of depression! God has the power and ability to pick you up from whatever pit of despair you are in and place you back on solid ground! This how lives are changed! Not through the things of this world but by the wonder-working power of God Almighty!

Love Does It!

When you love the lost you facilitate changed life’s. You lead others to the life-changing event of encountering God. Helping them to see that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. He did suffer and die on the cross for the sins of man. And that the Bible really is the inspired word of God.

This is followed by repentance and then the new birth experience. By doing your part you are leading people into this! And it all starts with LOVE! It started with God who gave Jesus as a love offering. The apostles accepted that love and spread it through the foundation of the Church. It carried thousands of years into the future! To when someone shared that same love poured out on Calvery with you!

Now Share The Love!

Now you get to share that same love you received with the world! Do not hold back, share it with everyone you meet! You do not have to share the gospel with every passerby. But smile, laugh, and be merry! Don’t extend the aspects of hate. Judgment, gossip, or any other mean spirited action. Instead, pour out the aspects of love on others. Be kind, show mercy, and extend grace!

Before you run off in love I feel it necessary to remind you. Love requires truth. To love someone is not to soften the words of scripture. You can love a person and not agree with sin in their life. Don’t judge but also do not try to make the Bible fit a lifestyle. Life must be reshaped to fit the Bible!

Now I challenge to go forward in the rest of your day sharing the love of Jesus with everyone you meet! I promise you will see it change lives! That’s what showing love to the lost does!

John 13:34

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.