You Can’t Change the People You Want to Change!

We’ve all had family members and friends that we wish we could change, especially when we see them making decisions that clash with Catholic teaching, but you can’t force someone to follow rules (even if you know it would make them happier in the long run). 

Jeff offers some Scripture verses to help us better understand this concept and learn how to bring people to Christ first, so that they will choose to follow his commandments out of love, not just duty.

Snippet from the Show

“We can argue on topics all day long, but if we don’t know the basic proclamation of the gospel and bring Christ to people, we’re not going to see much change at all. The one who can change their heart is the one who doesn’t change.”


SHOWNOTES

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?”

Mark 7:21-22 – “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

Hebrews 13:8-9 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited their adherents.

Luke 19:1-10 – “He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchae′us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchae′us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ And Zacchae′us stood and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.’” 

Ezekiel 34:1-11 – “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.”

John 15:5 – “apart from me you can do nothing.”

Matthew 9:36-38 – “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'”

Galatians 6:9 – “And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”

2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Three Things to Think About When Influencing Others

  1. Share Christ with others and ask the Holy Spirit to penetrate their hearts
  2. Pray that the gospel will be proclaimed in the lives of those you know in need
  3. Pray the Kerygma with Kerygma Cards.

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