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When I met my wife, Polina, in Hawaii, we had completely opposite backgrounds. Her family was Ukrainian and my family was African American. Most of her family didn’t accept me. I was always available to meet her mom and so excited to meet her brothers, but the truth is, they had their minds set on not accepting me. No matter how much they tried to fake it, I could tell that they didn’t see me as family.
One day, I was telling this story to a gentleman and he told me that I should keep trying to convince them I was worthy of acceptance. He says, "That's what Jesus would do, keep trying."
The thing is, I’ve never lacked confidence in who I was, especially not when I came to Jesus Christ. Anyone in my family can tell you, I usually make decisions without taking their opinions into consideration. So, after trying time and time again to meet Polina’s mom, I finally came to the conclusion: Why bother?
The sad truth is, as Christians, this is the way we present the gospel. We beg and plead people to accept it even though, time and time again, people show us that they don’t care about God.
Thus, a question arises: Are we trying to convince them because we, ourselves, aren’t convinced? Because the truth is, when you know who you are and what you believe, someone choosing to believe the opposite of you doesn’t bother you.
Jesus told His disciples that whenever they are rejected, to knock the dust off their feet and cut all ties, but most Christians spend their time trying to convince others to follow God.
"Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties]." - Matthew 10:14 AMP
The truth is, if we are actually following God, ourselves, we don't have time to convince anyone else. Once you understand that even the righteous barely make it into heaven, you won’t feel the need to drag anyone along because you will realize your own salvation is at risk.
"And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the godless and wicked?" - 1 Peter 4:18 AMPC
If you are claiming to be a follower of God and still have time to drag someone along, it’s only because you aren’t truly following God, yourself.
Question of day: if the road to heaven is narrow and very difficult, why do you still have the energy to drag someone else along?
"But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it." - Matthew 7:14 AMP