Over the last few weeks, I have been sharing ways in which we can grow in our discipleship. I talked about (1) prayer and worship, (2) serving God through serving others (3) studying the Bible and learning with others and (4) generosity. These have proven time and again to help us in our walk with Jesus Christ.
A fifth pathway of Christian discipleship is sharing faith with others. Simply put, this is telling others about God’s love and the good news of Jesus Christ. We learn best when we share with other people. When I learned how to bake an apple pie, I wasn’t really a baker until I’d shared the pie with others. When I was first learning to play the guitar, I was only entertaining myself and the dog (sometimes) until I took the step to play the guitar for others. Faith in Jesus Christ comes alive when we share that faith with others.
We each have ways that we can tell others about what God is doing. When you find a new restaurant that you enjoy or discover a show on television that you love, you naturally want to tell others about it. When we experience the good news of God’s love and grace in our lives, we will naturally want to pass that on to others. There are various ways that each of us can learn to make that sort of sharing be natural for us. And a large part of sharing our faith is listening to what others have to say.
One of the best ways to get started in witnessing our faith is simply to start praying for someone you know that may need more of God’s love and joy and peace in their lives. Then, when it feels right, ask God to give you an opportunity to let that person know you are praying for him or her. This can be a wonderful way to share.
Questions to consider:
- Who do you know that you can be praying for the next few days or weeks?
- Are there some natural places that you might say something about your faith to others you know?
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve