How to Live a Meaningful Lifeಮಾದರಿ

Sharing Your Faith 

When you think about sharing your faith, do you get kind of nervous and sweaty? Does your heart start beating faster, or do you imagine the scenario getting very awkward very quickly? 

You’re not alone. Even though we’re all called to share our faith, we’re all a little nervous sometimes about where to start and how to do it. But maybe sharing our faith doesn’t have to be such a stressor. Maybe we can start looking at it less like sharing all the answers and more like making friends and starting conversations. 

Jon has experienced people sharing their faith with him in positive and negative ways. Here’s what he said about how some of those negative interactions: 

“People were quick to give me the answers to questions I wasn’t asking. I experienced people who shared a lot of Jesus-y information, but they weren’t so quick to share their lives with me.” 

Ouch. When we share our faith, we need to remember that our love matters more than our knowledge. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to have some good answers and biblical truth to share. But it does mean that we lead with our love. 

There absolutely is an urgency in sharing our faith, because we know this world is our temporary home. However, we sometimes put an unhealthy pressure on ourselves to get everything right in one interaction. These words from Paul can take some of the pressure off: 

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 NLT  

It’s God who changes hearts and lives. Our job is simply to show people God’s goodness by the way we love them and to plant the idea about a God who loves them and pursues them. 

So, how do we do this? Sometimes, it looks like sharing our faith by talking about the story of who Jesus is. But it can also look like so many other things. Maybe you talk about something you’ve learned about God recently. Maybe you share about a blessing in your life that you thank God for. It could be sharing your story with someone else, or offering to pray for someone you don’t know. 

However we share our faith, it’s most important that we do it in a loving way. And your actions speak far louder than your words. 

Flash forward several years: Jon has recently accepted Christ, but he has no idea what to do next or even if he believes everything fully. He walks into a church and meets Abraham, who isn't taken aback by his questions or doubts. Abraham takes time to get to know Jon and meet him where he is, and then issues a challenge for Jon to read the Bible for just five minutes every day and to pray before he reads it. Years later, Jon’s never stopped reading it. He’s now an incredible leader at Life.Church whose job is to help us be better friends and neighbors to the people around us. 

So if you want to share your faith, start by sharing your life. Give your time to meet someone else. Be curious about them. Don’t lead with all the answers, but ask them a lot of questions because you genuinely care. That kind of others-first love is a great way to share your faith and to live a meaningful life. 

Pray: God, thank You for the hope we have in You. Help me to share my hope and faith with others graciously and generously. Open my eyes to opportunities to share and show Your love to others, and give me the words to say. In Jesus’ name, amen.