Marc Estes

People today are starved for meaningul, lasting relationships. One of the greatest ways to reach those that need Christ is through quality relationships. In fact, 86% of all people that ever come to Christ and stay commited to a church family come through a relationship with a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or a relative.

Unfoturtnately, today many Christians don’t have much relationships with those outside of their church family, and if so, are often reluctant to share the Good News within them in fear that they might be rejected or because it isn’t a priority in their lives.

My encouragement to you is to make your life count by touching those that need Him through building healthy relationships with them! Don’t over-complicate touching the lives of people for Christ. RELAX! Just love them, spend time with them, enjoy their company, be an example, meet their needs and allow the Holy Spirit to do His part.

The Bible is filled with examples of reaching people for Christ through relationships:

- Andrew reaches out to his brother Simon Peter.
- Phillip reaches out to his friend Nathaniel (John 1:35-36).
- Cornelius, the Roman centurion, reaches his relatives and family (Acts 10).
- The Philippian jailer brings his circle of relationships to Christ (Acts 16:27-34).

Here are some practical ideas to help you in reaching people for Christ.

1 Pray and ask God to give you 7-10 people in which to build meaningful relationships. These relationships might come through existing friends, relatives, neighbors or co-workers. You may also consider getting involved in your community to build relationships as well.

2. Take the time to nurture those relationships by spending quality time with them. Plan time each week to spend time with them. Those that fail to plan, plan to fail.

3. Pray for each person regularly.

4. Find common interests and use them as opportunities to bond with them.

5. Look for any needs in their lives and take the opportunity to meet those needs to the best of your ability.

6. Introduce them to others from your church family.

7. Don’t lose sight of the reason you are establishing these new relationships.

Hopefully, these simple thoughts will encourage you in your journey of touching the lives of those around you. Make the decision today to implement these seven simple truths into  your life. You won’t be disappointed, in fact, you just might enjoy it!

Stayed tuned for REACHING 2