Hello ,
Check out the following story from Tim Keller:
I used to go visit my brother in law, and he would never wear a seat belt in the car. I always berated him for it. I remember one time he picked me up at the airport, and he had on his seat belt and shoulder harness. I said, "What happened? What changed you?"
He said, "I went to visit a friend of mine in the hospital who was in a car accident and went through the windshield. He had two or three hundred stitches in his face. I said to myself, I better wear my seat belt."
We talked about that a little bit. I said, "Did you not know that if you don't wear your seat belt you go through the windshield if you have an accident?"
He said: "Of course I knew it. When I went to the hospital to see my friend, I got no new information, but the information I had became new. The information got real to my heart and finally sank down and affected the way I live."
I love this illustration of what happens when someone encounters another individual whose life has been changed by something. The lives of others can be affected by the way that we live OUR lives in front of them. Jesus can often become real to them when they witness Jesus being real us, and living through us each and every day.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16
Have a great day and God bless!
Pastor Mike / The Open Word