Provoking Others

In a church I attended many, many years ago I had a group of friends that I spent time with. One day one of them received this letter in the mail. I watched her as she opened it and began to read. As she did, tears poured from her eyes. Then, a smile came across her face. I asked her if something was wrong. She just handed me the letter. I later asked her for a copy of it.

Here is what it said:
Dear ........,
I just wanted to tell you what a blessing you are to me. When I look at you, I see such a strong desire and commitment to serve God. As I see you with your children I am so blessed by what a wonderful mother you are.
The faithfulness and fervor with which you serve God provokes me to righteousness. I pray in the name of Jesus that God will richly bless you and abundantly meet every need in your life; exceedingly above anything that you ever thought, or hoped, or dreamed.
Thank you for being such a blessing to my life and helping me to grow by seeing the love of God in your life and your faithfulness to Him.
Love in Christ,
...........

I still have a copy of this letter. I remember thinking that I wanted to affect some one's life for God in that way. My friend hardly knew the person that sent this letter but the way she acted and the way she treated others has affected this person and provoked them to want to serve God and show the love of God.

My friend was not a person that was well known, was not beautiful to look at, was not classy, did not have money, did not drive a nice car, did not live in a nice house, did not dress in nice clothes and did not have "great faith". It was not any of these things that made another person want to serve God. It was love. It was not just having love, it was SHOWING love.

The Bible says in Romans 2:4 that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. It is being loving and kind to everyone we come in contact with that makes others want to know Jesus. It is what people saw in Jesus that drew multitudes to Him. Had He not loved them completely and unconditionally all of His teaching would have been in vain.

I do desperately want to provoke others. I want to provoke them to righteousness. I want to provoke them to love. If I can let the love of God show through me enough to do this, God will have given me the desire of my heart.