By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even persecutors, the worst of sinners: his righteousness is sufficient for them; his Spirit is able to purify and change their hearts.” – George Whitfield

Jesus hung out with the sinners, the despised, the delinquents, the miscreants, reprobates, the scum. Jesus broke bread with the broken, the torn down, the crushed, the defeated, the demoralized, the disheartened. He ministered to the crippled, the damaged, the deformed, the impaired, the possessed, the paralyzed. He befriended the outcasts, the outlaws, the crooks, the scoundrels, the swindlers. He loved the enemy, the lawbreaker, the troublemaker, the adulterer, the deadbeat, the wrongdoer, the depressed, the dejected, the dispirited, the hurting, the indignant, the unbeliever, the resentful, the skeptic, the heretic. He used the murderer, the persecutor, the coward, the unworthy, the lustful, the unfaithful, the unlikely, unaware, the ineligible.

We are called to be like Jesus.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

Will you hang out with the sinners, the despised, the delinquents, the miscreants, reprobates, the scum? Will you break bread with the broken, the torn down, the crushed, the defeated, the demoralized, the disheartened. Will you minister to the crippled, the damaged, the deformed, the impaired, the possessed, the paralyzed? Will you befriend the outcasts, the outlaws, the crooks, the scoundrels, the swindlers? Will you love the enemy, the lawbreaker, the troublemaker, the adulterer, the deadbeat, the wrongdoer, the depressed, the dejected, the dispirited, the hurting, the indignant, the unbeliever, the resentful, the skeptic, the heretic? Will you allow God to use you even though you might be a sinner, unaware, ineligible, unworthy, unfaithful, unlikely, unaware, ineligible?

Jesus came to the world to reach the lost and save the sinners.

“Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Matthew 9:12).

Will you be used by him despite your sin? Will you seek to reach the lost and minister to the sinners just as Jesus did?

Parents: Try to explain to your children who Jesus was, who He hung out with, and who He loved. Explain to them that God doesn’t use the likely or the qualified. Tell them that we are called to be more like Jesus.