How To Make a Difference Jude 20-25 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Jude 20-25
In this lesson we are going to be making a spiritual application from the book of Jude on how to make a difference in the life of those around us. This can apply to both saved people and lost people that we encounter every day. Basically we will look at two main ways to make a difference. First of all there must be a difference to make a difference and secondly we must have compassion to make a difference.
Jude 22 “And of some have compassion, making a difference:”
1) To make a difference we must be different. (Exodus 11:4-7)
- In the passage from Exodus we see that God put a difference between the children of Israel and the Egyptians.
- As saved people we are the children of God. There should be a difference between the way we look, talk, act, think, conduct our business etc. in comparison to lost people.
- If there is no difference between us and lost people then how will we be able to show them Jesus and their need of Salvation.
2) To make a difference we must have compassion. (Jude 22)
First of all let us look at why compassion is so hard. By definition we see that compassion means suffering with another or painful sympathy. It can also mean sorrow excited by the distress or misfortune of another. [American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828] From this definition we see why it is so hard of have real compassion, because it requires suffering on our part. Being honest most of us do not like to suffer, especially suffering over the problems of someone else.
Biblical examples of someone having compassion:
Exodus 2:6 (Pharaoh’s daughter raising Moses as her own child)
Luke 10:33 (The good Samaritan taking care of the man who was robbed)
Note in both of these cases it cost the person who had compassion time, money, personal involvement and many other things. Once again this is why it is so hard for us to have compassion because of the personal cost.
The question becomes then how do I learn to have compassion. Let us look at the passage in Jude and make some spiritual application from the verses around verse 22.
How to have compassion: (Jude 20-25)
1) Building up yourselves on your most holy faith (verse 20)
- Our faith and the growing of our faith is directly connected to the word of God (Romans 10:17).
- Therefore the more time we spend in the word of God and the more we increase our faith in the word of God, the easier it will be for us to have compassion for others and make a difference in the world around us.
2) Pray in the Holy Ghost (verse 20)
- Note that it is not just praying but it is praying in the Holy Ghost. You may ask how can I accomplish this.
- To pray in the Holy Ghost we have to get ourselves and our wants or desires out of the way. We also need to know the mind of the Holy Spirit. This goes hand in hand with step one, the more we read the word of God the more we will know the mind of the Spirit.
3) Keeping your selves in the love of God (verse 21)
- In Romans 5:5 we see a verse on how the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
- Notice it is connected with tribulation and suffering. This is the definition of compassion.
- Therefore by our own tribulation and suffering and trusting in the Holy Ghost we can have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts.
- If we get the love of God in our hearts then it will be easier to have compassion for others.
4) Looking for the mercy of Jesus Christ (verse 21)
- Jesus Christ was the greatest example of someone having compassion. There is a lot we could learn from him.
- Also looking daily for his return would change our life to the point of it would be easy for others to see the difference in us and thereby make a difference in their lives.