I want to speak to you tonight about the verse that says: “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30), because the most important mission we have in life is winning people:
We win souls for God, and we win them in our relationships with them.
When the Lord Jesus called Peter and Andrew, He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Thus, their mission was to win souls. It is the same mission meant by His words: “You shall be witnesses to Me.”
He who wins souls is wise.

The first and wisest soul-winner is God Himself.
For the sake of winning these souls, He came down from heaven, was incarnate, was humiliated, was crucified, and died. For these souls, He sent His Son, His Holy Spirit, His prophets, apostles, shepherds, and preachers.
Among the deepest words about winning souls are those of Saint Paul the Apostle:
“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law… To the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19–22).
He was determined to win souls — a wise fisherman casting his nets and returning with them full. Likewise, Christ was described as “He went about doing good.” He won people through various means — by preaching, healing, compassion, and love — in every way.
That is why it was said of Him, as a winner of souls: “Behold, the whole world has gone after Him.”
When He entered Jerusalem, the city was stirred by His arrival. When He entered houses, they were so crowded that there was no room to stand. In the story of the paralytic, because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof and lowered him. In the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, there were five thousand men, besides women and children.

• Win people with love:
  The first way to win souls is through love.
  If you do not love people, and they do not love you, you cannot lead them to God. People tend to listen to those who love them. A person who dislikes you is lost to you in relationship and cannot be drawn to God by you — he will not listen. But the one you love may love God because of you.
  One sign of loving others is bearing with them, for “love bears all things.”
  Every human being has faults and weaknesses. If you constantly watch people’s faults and judge them, you will lose them, and they will lose you. Therefore, bear with people.
  Bear with one person’s faults, another’s chatter, another’s ignorance, another’s weakness, another’s temper, and so on.
  The priest’s wide garments symbolize his patience and tolerance — a symbol of a broad heart. For a narrow-minded person loses people. Christ bore the sins of the whole world.
  One example of God’s patience is that He endures millions of atheists who deny or blaspheme His name — without striking them. He could easily destroy them, but He remains silent, patient — perhaps not this generation but the next may be saved. Thus God bears with those who mock faith and devotion.
  Bear with people in love, and you will win them, for love never fails.
  The Bible says: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink…”
  If someone treats you badly and you endure it kindly, you “heap coals of fire on his head” (Romans 12:20). As someone once said to another who endured him: “You are killing me with your kindness! Crushing me with your gentleness!” — for he saw his old self crumbling.
  It is easy to overcome people with nobility, as the Bible says: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
  Try, for instance, when someone wrongs you, to be the first to help him when he’s in trouble. Or respond politely to someone who speaks rudely — surely he will respect you and despise his own behavior.
  Some think they gain their rights through revenge. Yet in revenge you lose people, yourself, and God. You lose eternity — and even your right. “He who wins souls is wise.”
  Just as we win people through love, patience, and kindness, we also win them through wisdom.

• Win people with wisdom:
  Christ cares that we be wise. He even praised the unjust steward “because he had acted shrewdly.” He praised his wisdom, not his injustice. While God condemns the serpent, calling it a symbol of Satan, He says, “Be wise as serpents” — commending its wisdom. Scripture says, “A wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.”
  Because deacons also work to win souls, the apostles required that the seven deacons be “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” They could have required only the Holy Spirit, who is the “Spirit of wisdom, counsel, and understanding.” Yet the apostles emphasized wisdom.
  Saint Paul said: “We speak wisdom among those who are mature — yet not the wisdom of this age.” It is not worldly wisdom.
  Saint James spoke of “the wisdom that is from above”:
  “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits” (James 3:17). He distinguished it from earthly wisdom that brings “envy, strife, confusion, and every evil thing.” He said, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.”
  Evil wisdom — cunning and deceit — is how the wicked plot lies and schemes to achieve their goals. They may succeed through worldly means and corruption. It was said of Satan that he is wise in evil. But we must not win people through such “earthly, sensual, demonic” wisdom — only through heavenly wisdom.
  Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite, won David the prophet by wisdom and saved him from revenge; later he married her (1 Samuel 25). David said to her: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed.”
  A wise person knows when to speak and when to be silent, how to act, and how to win people. Our holy fathers taught discernment.
  The wise man multiplies friends; the fool loses even his dearest.
  The wise woman does not lose her husband, and the wise man does not lose his wife. Where there is wisdom, problems are solved. Saint John Chrysostom said: “If you wish to get rid of your enemy, make him your friend.”
  Of course, some people are hard to win — the problem lies with them, not with you — as with Christ and the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, chief priests, and elders of the people, though some later believed.
  Because winning everyone is not easy, Scripture says: “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).
  Winning people does not come through insistence or haste. Insistence may have the opposite effect, tiring or annoying the person you want to reconcile with, or making him stubborn or proud.
  The matter requires wisdom — sometimes patience, sometimes speed — and the wise person knows which suits the moment.
  One poet said about patience:
  “Patience may help you achieve your need;
  But haste may bring about your fall.”
  Another poet replied:
  “Yet slowness has harmed some men indeed;
  They’d have succeeded had they been swift.”
  The key is to be wise, as another poet said:
  “If you need to send someone, send a wise man — and no need to instruct him.”
  If you lose people, perhaps it is because of a lack of wisdom in your actions. One person faces a problem and panics, while another faces the same issue calmly and resolves it easily. So if you lack wisdom, seek counsel and ask the wise.
  Is it not shameful that many worldly people are wise and win others, while the children of God fail where they succeed?

There is a way to win people — by winning God first.

• Win God, and you will win people:
  To win people, first win God — and win yourself. Saint Paul said, “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). If you win God, you win yourself; and if you win yourself, you will win people — for you will know the way, have experienced wisdom, and learned how to draw others.
  When you remove the plank from your own eye, you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye — and thus win his soul.
  If you have not yet won God or yourself, wait before trying to win others, lest they reproach you saying, “Physician, heal yourself first.”
  He who has lost himself cannot win another.
  He who has not walked the path cannot guide others to it. He who has not experienced God cannot make others love Him.

• Win people with humility:
  The proud do not win people, for others turn away from them. But one who humbles himself below all others and does not exalt himself will win their hearts.

1. Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine – Sixth Year (Issue 40), October 3, 1975.

2. For better translation support, please contact the center.