Does Your Heart Mourn For the Lost? (Article 18-11)

As a believer in Jesus Christ, can you truly say you are His Disciple? Of those things we are called to do as disciples, we need to focus on two things. First, we must, without exception, abide in Christ for all things and in the process become like Christ. If we truly say Christ is “Our Lord”, then we must act accordingly. We must petition Christ for answers to all our questions in our quest to find the truth; to guide our steps; and to be righteous (in right standing with God). Second, discipleship calls us to lead our lost brothers and sisters to Him, for whether we do or not, the outcome is eternal.

Christ Asks Us An Important Question. In 1 John 4:20, Christ asked His disciples “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” He states that if we hate our brother and proclaim to love God, then we are liars. The use of the word “liar” is very strong language, for it accuses us of deceiving or providing misinformation to the truth. In so doing, it means to work contrary to God’s will and the truth and light Christ brought to all of us.

Do You Really Have Love In Your Heart? Profession of love without the reality of love shows that we do not truly understand nor experience God’s love. We presume that we love but we may not have love in our hearts. As such, I invite you to think about whether you do or not have the love of Christ in your heart. As believers, it is very common for all of us to say we love God, yet His love for us may not be manifesting within us. As a result, we may not have the desire or ability to love others. As Christians, we must remember that love does not originate within us, but rather resides “in Christ”. So, if we do not abide in Christ (and He in us) to obtain the power of love, then we are, consciously or subconsciously, operating opposed to Him and the will of the Father. We can claim we love our brothers and sisters; however, without the love of Christ in us, we are liars and hypocrites.

Our Calling is To Seek Out The Lost. Because of who Jesus is, our great calling is to love our brothers and sisters, and by doing so, lead them to Christ. We must remember though that although Christ calls us to love each other, His first coming into the world was to divide us. In Luke 12:49-53, Christ makes it abundantly clear that He came to “set the world on fire.” He asks the question “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?” This question was rhetorical, for Christ answers “No, I have come to divide people against each other!” These verses should not be misconstrued as a lack of love Christ has for us and the love we should have for and demonstrate to each other. Instead, these verses demonstrate His unconditional love for us. Why? The answer is that our Lord and Savior didn’t just say He loves us, but demonstrated His love for us by enduring a terrible baptism of suffering to save us from an eternal death and damnation (Luke 12:50). Christ’s goal to divide us was to sift out the believers from the non-believers: It was intended to divide the light from the darkness so we may find our way back to God. He did so without certain conditions being met or for any other purpose out of love for us – the love of our Heavenly Father. Our calling is to lead (out of genuine love and care for our brothers’ and sisters’ eternal destiny) non-believers to Christ, thus a reconciliation back to God.

Do You Genuinely Mourn? Our love for Christ, and knowledge of His love for all of us, should lead us to “mourn” for those who do not know Him (Matthew 5:4). Do you genuinely mourn for the lost? Does the knowledge of a friend who is lost burden your heart? If not, then meditate on whether you know Christ’s love for you, and with it, whether or not the love of Christ resides within your heart.