As if it was Your Best Friend

This post will be short - it's just a thought that's been lingering in my head for a few weeks - but I think it's important. It first occurred to me at Youth Group; I don't remember what our Youth Leader's lesson was exactly, but I know it had something to do with your friends and how they influence you, and how you ca influence them to become closer to God. That same week, two new people started coming to Youth Group, both of whom went to my school. I'd never been particularly close to either one of them, but I was still thrilled to see them there. 

That's what brings me to this story. About a year ago, one of my very close friends had strayed extremely far away from God. She'd even mentioned to a few people that she had changed her religion from Christianity to witchcraft and was making extremely negative comments to my best friend, who's just as serious of a Christian as I am, criticizing her for her religion. Of course, both my best friend and I were upset about this; we had many long discussions about what we should say or do and met with our Youth leaders several times. We tried so hard to lead her to God; every time I prayed, I asked Him to open her heart to Him. 

And it worked. At first it was small things. She wore her cross necklace again. She stopped criticizing us. She still swore, but she started saying "Oops," or at least, "Sorry," afterwards if we were around and she knew it bothered us. Then finally any swearing became less frequent. Now she comes (regularly!) to the same Youth Group I go to, and has actually invited someone else she knows to start coming. Compared to a year ago, it's such a remarkable change - though this isn't the main point of my post.

The point is how devoted we were to helping her find God again. We were willing to do anything He told us to in order to bring her back, because she's one of our best friends. The thing is, though, that's the way we should be treating everyone we know who isn't a Christian. We should be trying just as hard as if they were our best friend - even if they're our worst enemy. God wants them to know Him, and we should want to do anything he tells us to make that happen. It's not always going to be easy, but we have to try.

~blackandwhitedreamer