Question:
What can you do to help friends who were on fire for the Lord, but have recently made a U-turn?

Answer:
A portion of Scripture that has become more and more precious to me with things around us becoming increasingly wicked is 2 Timothy 2:24-3:5. This is special instruction for the “last days” of God’s grace in which we are now living, and we are told that these days will be “perilous” or difficult for the Christian. Satan is increasingly active today to keep saved and unsaved from being interested and active in the Lord’s things, for he knows his time is short before the Lord judges him (Revelation 20:2,10).

A truth that is important to remember when trying to help our friends who made a profession of salvation and have made a U-turn is that we cannot look on their hearts, and that only “the Lord knoweth them that are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). And we are not called to judge whether a person is saved or not, but we are told to look at his actions, and the Lord assures us that “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).
So, if our friend does not act like a Christian any longer, the Lord still may want us to be used of Him to help the wayward one. Here is the instruction the Lord has given to us about how to do this: “The servant of the Lord must not strive: but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
What a solemn thing it is to do our own will, and thus be taken captive to do the devil’s will. Our hearts go out to any who are thus trapped, and we realize that “but for the grace of God, there go I.” We are told that our job is to not to argue, but be gentle, ready to tell the truth, patient, and depending on the Lord when we have the opportunity to speak to them.The fact is that for their own good, those who have made a U-turn away from the Christian pathway must, in sorrow, repent of what they are doing and show they have repented by rejecting their wicked ways. But repentance is a gift, and only God can give it. God uses His goodness to lead souls to repentance (Romans 2:4), and He may use us, by our kindness and yet faithful stand for the truth, to serve Him in this way. If directed by the Lord, the servant of the Lord will not go with them in their wrong ways. Though the Lord loved sinners, He never lowered His moral standards, and neither can we, if we are going to serve Him and help our friends.