The Love Of Christ Urges Us On
For the love of Christ urges us on, because we
are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died
for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for
him who died and was raised for them.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a
human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of
view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a
new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything
has become new! All that is from God, who reconciled
us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to
God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Have you ever thought of yourself as an
ambassador for Christ? If you are a Christian, that is
what you are supposed to do. It is not about preaching to someone. It is about
building a relationship and getting to know someone. In that way, you get to
know someone on a personal level, and then you can tell your own story.
You will find, when you tell your story, that
some people have similar stories. They may already know Christ as their Savior,
but they still might need your encouragement.
Seek out someone today who needs encouragement
and reconciliation.
A word of encouragement
can make the difference
between giving up and
going on.
Our Daily
Bread
– July 2, 2008