Hallmark, Lifetime, and similar companies have delved into simple film production. Their goal isn’t to create attention-grabbing blockbusters with gazillion dollar budgets. Bypassing theatres for home television screens, their films are visually appealing, capturing viewers with light-hearted, relatable storylines. Often adding a romantic twist, they produce films around seasonal and holiday themes with content that is generally family-friendly.
The movies tend to be similarly written. Two main characters work through a strong dislike or a jaded shared history to become more than friends. Except that both are reluctant to tell one another that they’re loved. Partway through the film, there are separate scenes of a conversation with each main character:
Friend: “Do they know how you feel?”
Main Character: “No…”
Friend: “You should tell them. They’ll never know how you feel if you don’t tell them.”
For believers in Christ, our approach when sharing the gospel is similar. We memorize where key texts are located in the Bible. We learn the chronology of historic events. The ten commandments and books of the Bible are memorized for recitation. We’re familiar with what the church believes and can find an answer for everything.
Focused on the task at hand, we may overlook a necessary detail. Because we have an understanding of spiritual things, we figure that others who are new in their faith would eventually catch on. After all, we want others to be ready when Jesus comes again. But sometimes we forget about God’s ultimate reason for saving us in the first place.
Love.
We may need to dialogue with God for ourselves:
God: Do they know how I feel about them?
Us: No…
God: You should tell them. They’ll never know if you don’t tell them. Or show them.
Without love, the Bible doesn’t make as much sense. Once we understand that God genuinely cares for us and desires the best for everyone because He loves us, it shifts our perspective and strengthens our connection with Him.
