For the Love of Christ

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain

This quote by Mark Twain appeared on a web site that was intended to help others discover what they are passionate about so they can live their lives with purpose and meaning.

The greatest gift we could ever give another person is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we love others enough to pass on this priceless gift to our family and friends? Twenty years from now, are we going to be regretful that we didn’t share the love of Christ with people that did not know Him? As Corinthians reflects, it was obvious by Paul’s life that he had a passion for people that was fueled by the love of Christ.

I owned a skin care business franchise for several years and we also carried wigs in our store. Because of those items we offered, I often talked to women who were battling cancer. Some were on the road to recovery and some had been given little hope by their physicians. Being a cancer survivor myself brings a reality close to home that no one is exempt from death. I have thought on many occasions what regrets I would have about my life should I, as some of these ladies, be given a short time to live and not experience the miraculous healing in which I did have.

I remember my sweet grandmother’s last few words as she was living in her final hours on this earth. She whispered, “None of you should have any regrets.” What she was actually referring to was that we all had done what we could do to make her life easier while she was here and for us to have no regrets in that area.

But what if we took those last words one step further and asked the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life with no regrets? It's not as difficult as it sounds. All it takes is being filled with the love of Christ and extending that love to those around us.

“ For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV

I want to extend the love of Christ to everyone I meet. Whether it is in a kind word, an act of kindness, or just listening to someone who is hurting, I want to be an example of who Jesus is to those who may not know Him. My only regret in life is that I wasted so many years running from God before I finally surrendered to His call. Had I not wasted so much time, I could have ministered to so many other people in those earlier years. I pray that God will be merciful to me now in my later years to let me “pay it forward.”

Now that I have stopped running, I can stop and share His love.