Day 16: Your Part & God's Part

Read 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

Even if our family and friends never accept an invitation to a faith event, we can remain completely chill. After all, friendship is our goal. But when we find our emotions going sour because someone we care about doesn’t seem to care at all about Jesus, we need to remember God’s part and our part.

If we confuse God’s part and our part, we will likely feel frustration or fear when it comes to making Christ known. The Bible uses farm‐language to explain: “One plants the seed. Another waters it. But only God makes it grow.” Have you ever tried making a plant grow faster by pulling on it? Of course not. You’ll only uproot it and ruin the process. So we do well not to pull—or push—our family and friends where they’re not ready yet. Sowing seed is our part. God alone gives people faith—or grows them.

The Bible depicts seed sowing as “spreading God’s Word” (see Matthew 13). We are told to share the Word. We are also told to pray for people to know Christ. And, of course, we are to care for them. We use these three words to remember our part: Prayer, Care, and Share.

Prayer: We strive to pray every day for at least one person to know Christ. Pray for him or her at least once a day.

Care: We spell care: T‐I‐M‐E. Yep, people don’t know you care unless you spend time together. We try to spend at least one‐hour each week with those whom we want to share Christ with.

Share: We all share Jesus differently. Some of us serve and others invite. Some tell stories, while others debate. Friendship is necessary for them all.