"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13
What a beautiful verse and reminder that we are children of God! Adoption into God’s kingdom is a wonderful gift that we have. Many families also experience the beauty of adoption by bringing in new family members, whether formally or informally.
Being adopted in God’s family is life-changing! God the Father loves us endlessly, and we experience that love first hand because we have a relationship with Him through Jesus.
What is the relationship between Allah and the Muslim?
However, this is not the relationship that Muslims receive from Allah– in fact, it is quite the opposite:
“Say: O My slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” Sura 39:52
Many translations of the Quran try to replace “slave” in this verse with “servants,” to conceal the relationship Allah offers and to make Islam more appealing to newcomers.
Your Muslim friend has not experienced any type of love or compassion from their god. Instead, there are rules and orders to follow, and a fear of what will happen if they fail to live up to them. Muslims are not guaranteed forgiveness of all their sins in fact, the only way a Muslim can be certain that they will be saved from hell is if they die in the act of jihad.
How to show your Muslim friend that Yahweh has more to offer them
To show the loving relationship that you experience with God, all you need to do is be honest about it with your Muslim friend! Whether it be a short moment of thankfulness or sharing a story of His faithfulness, your Muslim friend will see the difference in how you feel loved by the true God!
Once your Muslim friend’s curiosity is piqued, then they may start to ask questions. When they do, be prepared to share your honest answer about how the Lord has loved you specifically and have Bible verses ready to share about how He loves everyone, those who have surrendered their lives to Him and those who have yet to come into relationship with Him.
For example, the verse from above:
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1
You can use these verses to explain the amazing story of Jesus’ coming to Earth. God became flesh, entered our world, and became the sacrifice to pay the wages of our sin. When we believe this and accept Christ as Lord, Jesus reconciles us through His cross and resurrection with the Heavenly Father. We then become children of God. This can be a great segway to ask your Muslim friend to start reading the Bible either on their own or with you, so that they can understand God’s plan to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus Christ. Feel free to gift them a Bible or point them to the Gospel of Luke to start reading. Luke is the best place to start for the Muslim so they can read the Christmas Story. After Luke they can read John.
The invitation to a loving relationship from a gracious God will change your Muslim friend’s life, the same way it changed yours! Pray over your relationship with them, that God will give you the right words, and He will open up your friend’s ears to listen and accept.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for adopting me into your family as your Child. Thank you, Jesus, for sacrificing yourself to pay for everyone’s sins, so that we all can freely come to relationship with you! I love you, Lord. Please help me share the love I receive from you with my Muslim friend! Amen.