What leads you to reach out to others in Christ's name? Don't just come up with a quick answer and then dismiss the question. Really think about it. What is it that makes you actually share Christ's love with someone else?

"Hmm. I don't want to feel guilty when the preacher asks if we shared our faith this week."

Often true, but let's try again.

"Well, let's see. I love them and don't want them to go without having their needs met. How's that?"

Pretty good, but let's go deeper.

"Okay. I love them and don't want them to die and go to hell. That's it, right?"

Getting there. Just a little deeper still, though.

"Boy, this is harder than I thought. How about a little help?"

Who's your first love according to the Bible?

"You mean God, right? Oh, I get it. I love God and want to do what He tells me to."

And?

"So my main reason for ministering to others should be because I love God and He wants me to do it. And that He loves people much more than I do, so I'm serving and sharing out of His love and not just mine."

That's it.

You see, the whole point of Christianity is that God loves people. Because of that love, He wants to meet their spiritual and physical needs. And because He loves us who follow Him, He sends us to be the examples of His love. If we serve others strictly out of our own love for them, then sooner or later, that love will run out. But it we serve others out of God's love for them, we will be hooked up to a battery that will never run dry and never need to be recharged.