Our responsibility is to teach all men the truth of God (Mark 16:15). We are to do so in a spirit of love for their souls (Eph. 4:15). When we speak or strive to teach people it must be our desire to tell them exactly what God has revealed (I Peter 4:11). We never want to be like the seed (the Word of God-Luke 8:13), which falls on “rocky soil”. They believe for a while then because of temptation arising from the Word, they quit. Each of us must fill our hearts daily with the Words that come from
Think for a moment about Saul who later became the apostle Paul. He was well educated in the Jews religion, which implies the law and the tradition of the elders. One man whom he was taught by was Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a well respected teacher whom people listened to in discussions about religious things. It was his sage advice which saved the apostles in Acts 5. When Paul learns the truth in the city of Damascus, he had much changing to do in his thinking. One barrier would have been to see his teacher, Gamaliel, as now being wrong. Some individuals fail to acknowledge the truth because it means that accepting the truth means others, whom we may care about are lost.
For some, learning the truth would call for them to change their life. The man in Matthew goes away sorrowful from the Lord (Matt. 19:22). The woman living an immoral life was told by Jesus to cease living that way (John 8:11). All indications are that she accepted what Jesus said for it saved her life on that day. The man in Matthew 19 saw what Jesus said required him to give up too much. Whatever the reason we should never give up the effort to reach the lost by Word, our efforts and prayer. Sad to say, not all will accept.