I remember when I met Susan. She called in to our live television show a few years ago. Her voice was shaking, and she was very nervous. Susan said that she felt like God had thrown her out of His life.

When I asked why she felt that way, Susan told me, “In every church I have attended, people judge me when they find out about my past.” Apparently, she had been married multiple times, and had some past sins that she was ashamed about. Susan felt that she didn’t fit in at any church.

Isn’t that sad? What Susan needed was Christians to really show her Christ-like love. To accept her for where she was, not judge her past, and encourage her to grow in the Lord. Jesus Himself commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

So why is it so difficult to love others sincerely? Because loving as Jesus loves is impossible to do on our own. We need God’s love in us, to show that love to our world.

First John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.”

Loving well takes practice, and resting in the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. But it’s absolutely essential if you want to see people changed. Love, my friend, is the essence of reaching your world for Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 5:14 explains what I call God’s rescue operation for mankind. The apostle Paul writes that Jesus Christ “died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them, and was raised again.” That, my friend, is the incredible rescue operation that took place on the cross when Jesus died for our sins!

God rescued us from ourselves – you notice it says – so that we would live no longer for ourselves. That really is the main enemy that we face. Satan is an enemy, yes; the world is an enemy, too. But the worst enemy is our very own sinful flesh.

Living for ourselves is selfish living. And selfish living leads us away from Christ. It leads to all sorts of problems in our lives. Yet, thankfully, Jesus Christ freed us from our past, gives us joy in the present, and hope for our future.

So what does this have to do with witnessing? Everything! The love of Jesus – His sacrifice in dying on the cross – is the biggest motivation for us to tell others about Him!

So think about the reality of God’s rescue operation in your own life. Then ask the Lord to help you tell your story — to your world.

Many of you have heard the verse in Hebrews that says we have only one high priest, and his name is Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. But did you know that all believers are also priests in the eyes of God? We all have equal access to the Heavenly Father. With the new covenant, God ordained that Christians don’t have priests — Christians are priests.

There are three things that priests do according to Scripture: They worship God, intercede for others, and minister according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Every one of us is given gifts according to our position and the Lord’s choice, to use for His glory.

If you take your priesthood seriously, there’s no telling what God could do with your life and your gifts. So, pray today that God would do powerful deeds through you to reach the lost. As you do, He will begin to open doors that you never envisioned. You will begin to witness for Christ with power and authority. And to witness simply means to tell what you’ve seen and heard. By accepting your priestly role, you’ll be astonished at the power that will be unleashed, and the lives that will be changed.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are also a priest. Peter 2:5 says, “you also … are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.” And one of the jobs of being a priest is prayer and intercession.

A friend of mine, Doug Coe, told me that he challenged a new Christian named Bob to pray for Africa for 45 days. So Bob started praying every day, “God, help Africa.” After about three weeks of prayer, Bob meets an African American lady and learns that she runs an orphanage in Uganda. She pleads with him to come see the orphans and maybe as a businessman he could do something. So he flies to Uganda, looks at the kids, and of course his heart breaks. He comes back home and begins to do all sorts of things for the orphanage.

Then one day, the president of Uganda calls and asks him to return to Uganda because of the work he’s done for the orphans. So Bob goes back to Africa and befriends the President. Through their friendship, the president ends up releasing numerous all his political prisoners who had unjustly been imprisoned.

What an amazing story! Yet this could happen to you, too! When you take your priesthood seriously, there’s no telling what God could do with your life, and whom you may touch with His Spirit.