Friday: Further Thought – Share Him
Daily Lesson for Friday 19th of June 2026
Further Thoughts:
“Whatever the profession, no man has pure love to God unless he has unselfish love for his brother.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
But we can never come into possession of this spirit by trying to love others. What is needed is the love of Christ in the heart. When self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 384.
“Those who are most actively employed in doing with interested fidelity their work to win souls to Jesus Christ, are the best developed in spirituality and devotion.”—Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 356.
“Strength to resist evil is best gained by aggressive service.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 105.
“In order to enter into His joy—the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice—we must participate in His labors for their redemption.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 142.
“Those who reject the privilege of fellowship with Christ in service, reject the only training that imparts a fitness for participation with Him in His glory.”—Ellen G. White, Education, p. 264.
Discussion Questions
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Summary: When God’s love and His living, powerful Word fill our daily lives, we will be compelled to love and share Him with those around us. We should be prayerful, thoughtful, and intentional about witnessing, believing that His Word, which goes forth from His mouth, shall not return to Him void, but it shall accomplish what He pleases, and it shall prosper in the things for which He sent it (see Isaiah 55:11).
The phenomenon of love remains a popular theme in literature, stories, music, and movies. Love is undeniably the most important element and ever-present in our lives. Love brings deep and significant content to life, and being loved is a gift that makes life more meaningful. The Bible speaks extensively about love, yet we often fail to understand the enormous difference between God’s love and human love. While both are called “love,” comparing them is like comparing a toothpick to a rainforest or a grain of sand to the Rocky Mountains. Although both involve caring, the magnitude of God’s love is beyond human comprehension.
This truth explains why love is foundational and essential for effective witnessing. Christian witnessing is not only about sharing the gospel but also about demonstrating God’s love to others. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Similarly, Paul taught that even the greatest spiritual gifts are worthless without love: “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Therefore, genuine love reflects God’s character and makes our witness powerful and credible.
Today an MoU was signed between USA and Iran ushering in a 60-day cease fire and resumption of free flow of ships through the strait of Hormuz. The deal has received applause and commendation from world powers including China and European countries infact President Trump signed his copy at the G7 summit in France with President Macron and other G7 leaders participating in the signing ceremony. With the MoU signed, a 60-day negotiating window is now in effect.
This MoU is aimed at finding ways to permanently end one of the most ferocious wars in human history in which we witnessed the display of advanced weapons, aviation superiorities and mind blowing technologies and coordinates that enabled fabricated pieces of metals travel thousands of kilometers and hit the exact target with devastating destructions in massive scope leaving lives and properties ruined beyond imagination.
Humans’ history is plagued with stories of wars both in the past and present and because we are not keen on exploring God’s own examples, wars will not end until Christ comes to end the world.
Jesus ended a universal conflict without firing a shot but by His death on the cross and He became the “victim” and the “Victor”, motivated by unimaginable love for us He sacrificed His life and gloriously overcame the forces of darkness forever and the battle won.
If we must end or prevent further wars, we need to rethink our policies and priorities individually and collectively as a people, Jesus has given us an example that “love” is not weakness, love redeems, love conquers all love saves and love wins.
Christ has given us a new peace-approach to life in order for us to not have more wars;
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matt. 5:43-48
The gospel of love is Christ’s greatest gift to humanity and it’s for our own good so let’s share it and not neglect it we will be doing the world and ourselves a favour.
Anything less than love is old fashion and will continue to fail.
Peace through love!!!!!
That would be great; world peace is a admirable goal. If everyone believed the Christian ethos as you so eloquently described, it might even be possible. The problem is they don’t. Evil must be confronted or it will fester and take over like a desease. God has often chosen nations and individuals to confront evil throughout history.
Reflecting over the week and some of the comments.
We are not saved by our theology, but by our relationship with Jesus. This is true for everyone—those in other denominations as well as our children. However, bad theology matters because it distorts our relationship to Jesus. Theology is simply a word picture through which we see God, and that picture naturally changes as we grow and mature.
Immaturity needs concrete concepts. The Ten Commandments are concrete (yet carry a profound abstract dimension). We must grasp the concrete before we can truly engage the abstract.
Does keeping the Ten Commandments get us to heaven? Does it “please” Jesus? The mature Christian might comfortably answer yes and no to both questions.
Children’s Sabbath School and most Church Schools are filled with immature believers who need solid concrete foundations. Without this groundwork, theology floats above reality, fails to connect, and becomes mystic. Both the concrete and the abstract are essential for a fuller understanding of God. But if we remain stuck in the concrete, we risk becoming “Uncle Arthur Christians” who treat God as a celestial butler. When life doesn’t fit neatly into that box, many drift into atheism or meaningless cultural Christianity.
We must meet our children and immature believers where they are—within today’s culture. We have no other option. This doesn’t mean compromising convictions or principles. Paul didn’t.
Our task seems to include leading our children (literally, and in the faith) into a richer, more mature relationship with our Saviour which includes a clearer grasp of how He is resolving the Sin problem. This requires every weapon of our warfare and the cooperative effort of families, churches, schools, and heavenly allies.
This is not a uniformed “one size fits all” process and sometimes I see things that concern me. However, instead of sighing and criticising, I need to spend far more time “sighing and crying” (Ezekiel 9:4).
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
It is our love for God that will compel us to witness to others so that His Kingdom may be advanced here on earth!!!
Being a witness is less about what we do and more about who we are. Jesus said it would come naturally after we receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8) We will feel compelled to witness of the goodness of God if we have first experienced it ourselves, and have genuine love for our fellow man. I can’t share what I don’t possess. I find that the closer I am to God, the better I am for humanity, especially those closest to me, my wife and family. Those concentric circles of witnessing start with those closest to us, and spread out from there. Oftentimes we want to start with complete strangers, but that’s not the biblical model. Our first “mission field” is our family. I must remember that I am either a missionary or a mission field.
The only motive for witnessing is love for people whom Jesus has died for. If we are lacking in either love or a personal experience with the Lord, we should pray and spend more time in the Bible getting to know God more so that we would have that “Living Water” bubbling up within and splashing onto others around us. We should also pray that the Holy Spirit would loosen our lips when divine appointments come our way. There’s a saying to “keep the faith.” I say, “no, give it away.” (Not throw it away) It’s the one commodity that we will find the more we share, the more our faith will grow, the more faith we will have. However, it all starts with our own personal relationship with Jesus first. Again, I say that we can’t give what we don’t possess.
May God’s love, and Holy Spirit in our hearts make us His witnesses. A witness is what we are, not something that we do.
In today’s section of our Lesson, question no.3 captured my special attention. Here is the question- “Is there a baseline or basic understanding that is needed to share God with others? If so, what might that be?
This question encounters my personal philosophy that states : you cannot give what you do not have. Many years ago someone wrote these words to this song entitled “Games People Play”
“People walking up to ya
Singing glory Hallelujah
And they’re tryin’ to sock it to you
In the name of the Lord.”
Someone once described Jesus as ” the Man between the Mountain and the Multitude.” From times of refreshing meetings with His Father , He ministered with Power to the weary, thirsting multitude.
To my mind the baseline is clear – we must spend quality time with Jesus. It takes time to know Him, it takes time to grow to love Him and it takes time to grow to trust Him. Yes it takes time!
And as we trust in Him we are empowered to do miraculous things such as consistently spending time with someone in Bible study and prayer. And sometimes that someone could be your wife or your very own child.
1 John 4:7 NIV “…Every one who loves has been born of God and knows God.” I can’t will to love you, I can’t will to care. I can fake it, I can play the game, “I can speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1 NIV)
Sometimes our reluctance to share Jesus and the blessings of knowing Him with others stem from our own lack of passion in our relationship with Jesus. I pray for the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to experience the joy and the blessings of knowing Jesus.
There are so many Christians around the world that one might wonder why their impact is not more prevalent in their societies’ wellbeing than that of other faiths; especially in America.
Presently, there are approximately 2.3 to 2.4 billion Christian adherents in the world. Islam is the second-largest faith with about 1.8 billion followers, but it is recognized as the fastest-growing religion in the world; mostly because of their higher birthrate [AFP Fact Check]
We are not born into our religion – Christianity. We join this faith by being convinced that we follow a teacher who provides us with spiritual understanding we willingly accept; pointing us to the God of Creation.
We understand that God loves His creation, that He knows that we will be eternally lost without Him in this fallen world. Because of this, He sent His Son Jesus to lead us out of this world into His spiritual Kingdom to be able to live in this fallen world, but not to be ensnared by it.
Why is this Truth so difficult to share with others? Why is living as a ‘Christian’ in this fallen world not more impactful to our communities’ life and the welbeing of our country? Is it because so many Christians compromised with the world in order to live more comfortably within its moral and ethical environs?
What does Ellen G. White quoted in this lesson mean when saying: “Those who reject the privilege of fellowship with Christ in service, reject the only training that imparts a fitness for participation with Him in His Glory”? Does ‘service’ mean a large, organized project that helps others in need, or can she be understood as saying that our ‘service’ is daily living a godly life to benefit everyone and anything we come in contact with?
If the image of Jesus Christ in us is like a becon in our daily life as a Christian, then this is our service and testament to the Faith of Jesus Christ – His Father’s, our Creator’s, Gospel. Christianity would then spread its healing influence to all of our local and worldwide communities, bringing many more to join us to live by Faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ – Gal.2:20; Rom.1:17; Phil.1:27.
“When the self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously.” This phrase is quite the opposite of what is being spread lately: be proud of being yourself!
Greetings, All!
This week’s lesson study brings to mind one of my favorite hymns. It reiterates:
“I have a friend so precious,
So very near to me;
He loves me with such tender love;
He loves so faithfully.
I could not live apart from Him.
I love to feel Him nigh.
And so we dwell together;
My Lord and I.”
I am aware, Brigitte, that the closer one’s relationship is with Jesus, the more inadequate one will feel regarding influences for Him. Let our Heavenly Father, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, direct all unique gifts, talents and experiences for His glory. Then, only eternity will tell the measure of followers’ influence for Christ. Until then, keep looking up.