Love Isn't Enough

I have learned a lot from being involved in student ministry. A lot about myself and a lot about students. How they think, what they feel. Things like that. One think that God is just killing me with right now is this

You can’t just love them into a relationship with Christ.

I can’t just will them and love them into accepting Him. No matter what I do, what I say, what I give them, how often I pray for them. Non of that can save them. Non of that can give them an authentic relationship with God. The vessel that I am is just not enough. God has got to do all of the work.

How do I leave it all up to God? Well if I’m going to be honest, I don’t always. I want to fix them. I want them to know God and know His love and blessings. I want to free them from bondage. But God is showing me that, even though my loving them won’t change them, it won’t necessarily change their heart for Him, it is what I’m called to do. To love them through their mistakes and their hurts. To show them Christ’s love. All I get to do is be obedient to Him and rest in the fact, and it is a fact, that He is working in those students lives. In ways that I never could. And for that, I am thankful.