Most people I know want to live the fullest, most enriching life possible. In fact, that’s the kind of life God wants for us, too! But how do we achieve that kind of life?

I believe that the more effort we put toward reaching our generation with the Good News, the more fulfilled we become. What greater adventure can there be than helping someone take the step of faith to believe in Jesus Christ?

Now, you may be thinking, “Sure, Luis… easy for you to say. But I’ve tried sharing my faith and nothing seems to happen!”

It’s true – many times, we won’t see the results of our witnessing until years later. But what God notices is our willingness to persevere, to stick with it, and to try again.

St. Paul says in Philippians 3: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead; I press on toward the goal to win the prize…”

So let’s bury those insecurities, or what I call “chickenitis.” Let’s press on and continue sharing the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ with our world.

As you focus on the spiritual condition of others, you’re fulfilling the greatest calling on your life. And God will show you the fruit of your faithfulness. There’s nothing more exciting than that!

My father was a very successful businessman, but he died when I was only 10 years old. He left my mother a lot of property and money. But several family members swindled everything we had. Within three years, my family was living in poverty and debt.

When I was old enough to understand what our relatives had done, I urged my mother to take revenge on them. I wanted to get a lawyer to take them to court and let them have it! I was so angry. The older I got, the more bitter I became.

But, my mother refused to become bitter. She clung to what the Bible says in Romans 19:16, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ’It is mine to avenge, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

God is the One who measures out justice. He will be the judge. How he handles that judgment is up to Him. He may do something now, or He might not, but we don’t need to worry about it. He is the perfect judge.

God commands His followers to grant forgiveness. Only then can we truly reach our world for Jesus Christ. When you forgive, others witness the miraculous power of Jesus Christ in YOU! Be a person who is willing to forgive because Jesus has forgiven you.

This week I’m trying to talk to you about reaching your world, through the words of a famous old hymn, called ’So Send I You.’ Here goes verse 2, “So send I you to bind the bruised and broken, or wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake, to bear the burdens of a world a-weary, so send I you, to suffer for my sake.”

You know, witnessing for Christ is a wonderful experience- it is positive, it is joyful, and many times it brings fantastic and beautiful results. But there’s one thing we must never forget. It is also a demand for sacrifice.

It is also sometimes suffering. Many a person has died physically just for sharing the Good News and the love of God in Jesus Christ. Many of us have not been physically beaten up, but we have been insulted or psychologically manipulated, or made to feel inferior, or extremist, or as some people say, a fundamentalist- just because you share the love of God and the cross of Christ, and His resurrection, and His power to change their lives. But we must be ready for that.

My mother always taught me that verse in St. John, “In the world you will have tribulations, but cheer up, I have overcome the world.”

So when you share the Good News you must be ready to expect somebody to look down their noses at you. But on the other hand Jesus Christ says, “ah, you are doing it for my sake, I love you, I will reward you.

Years ago, when my wife and I, started to proactively try to reach our world, there was a Christian hymn that was sung very often in churches. I hum it to myself quite often, even now, years later.

This is the first verse, “So send I you to labor unrewarded, to serve unpaid, unloved and unsought, unknown. To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn, and scoffing. So send I you to toil for me alone.”

When I sang that song, I always used to think, ’I believe all those words except one…’ and that is the first line, “So send I you to labor, unrewarded…”

I believe there’s a great reward in serving Jesus Christ. The biggest reward is when a person repents, believes in Jesus Christ, opens their heart, surrenders to Him, and begins to witness of the Love of God and the cross of Jesus Christ.

But you know there is a point to this verse, when it says, “unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown…” You’ve got to be ready, when you share the Good News of Jesus Christ that not everybody will applaud, not everybody will think that you’re great, and not everybody will respond by faith.

So by faith, launch out, and expect God to reward you in His own way.