Inviting People to Change

Another way that Christ ministered to people during His mortal ministry was by inviting them to change.  The first recorded statement of the Savior by Matthew when He started His ministry was an invitation to repent: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).  Throughout His encounters with the people He would emphasize this same message through various invitations to His hearers to make changes in their lives.  His purpose in teaching was to help people to become even like their Father in Heaven, and that process requires frequent changes and course corrections.  Essentially all of His invitations for others to change were based on this overarching message to us: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).  To really come unto Him, we have to follow the invitations that He gives us.      

            Here are a few examples of the way that He invited others to make changes.  To Peter and Andrew He said simply, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19).  This was an invitation that altered the course of their whole life.  To two of the disciples of John the Savior gave this very easy invitation: “Come and see” (John 1:39).  When the woman taken in adultery was brought before Him, He did not condone her actions but did invite her to change in these words, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11).  When the rich young ruler came before Him, He gave this demanding counsel: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matt. 19:21).  The Savior was making the invitation to this young man that He needed most.  To the man who was healed at the pool of Bethesda the Lord said, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14).  This time the invitation was a general one to sin no more, but the man may have understand it to be referring to some particular sinful behavior that He had.  On a different occasion when the Savior healed a man with leprosy, He gave the man this invitation after the healing, “See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them” (Matt. 8:4).  He was inviting the man to give strict adherence to the law of Moses.  When Jesus talked with the woman at the well, He said to her, “Go, call thy husband, and come hither” (John 4:16).  He knew of course the woman’s situation and how she didn’t currently have a husband, but the invitation was for her to get her marital life in order.  With nearly all the people that the Savior come in contact with, He invited them to make some kind of change—to repent—and it is an example to us as we seek to minister to others.  Helping them to repent and change is the best way we can help them.