This is a true story written by Ms. Veda Hall
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On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of GOD. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. - Acts 16:13-14
Faith Believers,
Have you ever realized that sometimes witnessing can be accomplished better through our daily lives than our words? My husband struggled for years with the assurance of his salvation. Added to his uncertainty was the constant badgering from me for him to give his life to Christ. When he failed to do so, I would inundate him with various modes of presentations of the Gospel. In turn, not only was he miserable, so was I.
After years of such attempts, one day, as I was having my daily Bible reading, I came across today’s verses - Acts 16:13-14. GOD impressed on me that it wasn’t my responsibility to assure my husband of his salvation or to prompt him to receive Christ. It was GOD’s responsibility to open my husband’s heart, just as He had Lydia’s.
My responsibility was to live in front of my husband as is described in 1 Peter 3:1-2 (NIV) - Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
It freed me from a lot of frustration.
It also freed my husband from a lot of my manipulation.
And in time, GOD did bring him to the point where he knew in his heart that GOD was the answer to all that he was going through. And I learned in the process that sometimes our actions really do speak louder than our words!
~ Prayer ~
Father,
Thank You for sharing in Your Word,
examples of how You draw people to Christ.
Let us be wise enough
to follow the examples
You’ve laid out before us.
Amen
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