Leaders, are you looking for a way to increase the impact of your ministry? Consider how you are loving your men. Of all the forces in the world that can be resisted, the most difficult to resist is love.
For example, my friend Jim was in charge of custodial services at a church. Carl, a young man headed nowhere, needed to do community service hours. Jim worked with him and gave him his assignments.
Finally, Carl’s community hours were finished. On the last day, Jim asked Carl if he could say something to him. Carl said, “What is it?” Jim said, “I just wanted to tell you that God loves you as a man. I wanted you to know that because He loves me, I love you also.”
Carl looked stunned.
Then Jim asked, “Could I do something to you?” A little skeptically Carl said, “I guess so.” Jim told him he would like to give him a hug. Jim embraced and hugged Carl. And Carl hugged him back. Carl would not let go. He broke down and began to sob. Later, he said no one had ever told him God loved him.
That single act of sharing God’s love transformed Carl’s life. Fast-forward 10 years to today. Carl is a vibrant part of that same church, serves as an elder and has a family of his own. He even hosts a Christian radio program on one of our local stations. That is the power of our gospel.
At the end of the day, we are all weak people who need other weak people to love us, not so much for what we can become—our potential—but because of who we are right now and in spite of what we have done or failed to do.
It takes courage to love people that way, but do you know of any other way God is changing the world?
Patrick Morley is founder and CEO of Man in the Mirror. After building one of Florida’s 100 largest privately held companies, in 1991, he founded Man in the Mirror, a non-profit organization to help men find meaning and purpose in life. Dr. Morley is the best-selling author of The Man in the Mirror, No Man Left Behind, Dad in the Mirror, and A Man’s Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines.
