Be sacrificial with your time

One of the reasons I became a Christian was because I lived in a residential college at university and spent lots of time with a Christian guy named Dave. I’m grateful to Dave for sharing his life and faith with me.

In short supply

Time is a precious commodity and in our busy lives it’s in short supply. As I’ve got older, I’ve found it’s been more of a challenge to take the initiative to spend time with my non-Christian contacts. I don’t have as much social energy as I used to. After a busy week at work, I’d rather just blob in front of the TV or spend time with friends from church who are easy company. And at work I’ve just got so much to do.

Stop and consider: Are you pushing yourself to spend time with your non-Christian contacts?

Jesus’ example

It’s good to remind ourselves that Jesus left the comfort of his heavenly home to spend time with us, in order to bring us back to God:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Phil 2:5-8 (NIV)

Have you ever thought what it must have been like for the perfect Son of God to spend time with us? The Gospel accounts sometimes betray Jesus’ frustration with his disciples and with the Jewish people (see Mark 8:17, for example).

The passage above from Philippians says we should have the same mindset as Christ Jesus—we should sacrificially put ourselves out for the benefit of others.

Stop and consider: What do you need to do to spend more time with your non-Christian contacts?

The way forward

Here are some ideas:

• Set aside a day each week where you intentionally try to have coffee or lunch with someone from work.
• Invite a few people over to your place for a dinner party or BBQ. Start early so there’s plenty of time to move from superficial chitchat to more meaningful conversation.
• Organize a weekend away with some non-Christian friends.

If you make the effort, it’s just a matter of time before the gospel comes up in conversation.

Pray: Ask God to change you so that you would be like the Lord Jesus—willing to put yourself out for the sake of others. Pray for the discipline to plan time with your non-Christian contacts.

To find out more about workplace ministries and how to get started talking about Jesus where you work contact our team at City Bible Forum