Being a Shepherd

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. - Jn 21:17

Being a shepherd sounds like a tall task for a high schooler. Yet Jesus asked Peter to love him by taking care of his sheep. How can we do that? Where can we start?

I heard a great acronym about being a shepherd: To shepherd people, we need to B.L.E.S.S. them.
Begin with prayer.
Listen and sometimes you have to listen for a long time.
Eat together with them.
Serve them in whatever way.
Share the word of God.

We should whole-heartedly B.L.E.S.S. God’s sheep and pray for the opportunity to share the gospel and to serve them with the word of God. God’s words are life giving and most precious. So as we are loving our neighbors, serving them, praying for them, eating with them, listening to them, we also need to intentionally seek the opportunity to plant the words of God. We cn do this through casual conversations, or formal one to one Bible studies. But it is important to know that we can still shepherd people who do not want to study the bible. Our love for God’s sheep should not dissipate or lessen when they are not open to the Word. We can still B.L.E.S. others and pray that one day, someday, in God’s right time, God might open their hearts for us to share God's word.

Who can you B.L.E.S.S. today?