Do I Really Need to Share My Faith?
I’m not going to start by telling you “don’t be scared” about sharing your faith. First of all, who am I to tell you that and second of all, if you want to be able to share your faith without fear, a flippant “don’t be scared” likely won’t help you anyway.
Setting that fear aside for a second, do you and I need to share our faith in the first place? If we don’t, then it doesn’t matter if we’re scared or not, because if we’re not going to share it, then what does it matter anyway?
When you are finished reading this post, I hope it leaves you with three things:
1. Believing the importance of sharing your faith with the people close to you.
2. Freed from the fear of “what if I say the wrong thing?” – because you never know how God will use something you say to impact someone else’s faith.
3. Inspired to dive into your Bible.
One of my closest friends, Bethany, shared her faith with me in an unexpected way. She doesn’t remember what she said! But I do. And 15 years later it has still stuck with me. It made such a difference in my life and that is what I want to share with you.
Why Is It Important to Share Your Faith
Before I go into the details, lets tackle this first question: “Why is it important to share your faith?”
You might be the only person to share Jesus’ truth to that particular person. Even if it’s unexpected for you, you might be the very person God has placed in their life for that exact purpose: to make Himself known to them.
And as unexpected as it may be – that might be just what will encourage the other person to seek God out for themselves and get to know the God of all creation – the God who created them, the God who chose them, the God who loves them, and ultimately the God who redeemed them.
Bible Verses About Sharing Your Faith
What does God’s Word say about sharing your faith?
“and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake for Christ.” Philemon 1:6
“Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of His wondrous works.” Psalm 105:1-2
“I will tell of Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.” Psalm 22:22
“Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned on Zion! Tell among the peoples His deeds!” Psalm 9:11
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1
“I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.” Psalm 40:10
I love the Psalms! Before I started this blog, I prayed continually over whether or not to do this. And during that time, I kept coming back to the Psalms. And those verses that spoke of “tell among the peoples,” “tell of his wondrous works,” “I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation” jumped out at me.
Tell of His deeds. Tell among the peoples. Tell of Your name. It is clear from these verses that telling of Jesus – sharing Jesus and your faith – is something we each can do.
How Do We Share Jesus In Everyday Life?
To illustrate how to share Jesus and your faith in everyday life, I can’t think of a better example than how my friend, Bethany, shared her faith with me in an unexpected way.
Bethany and I used to work together and we were on a bus headed to an annual canoeing work trip.
At this point in my life, I was a Christian, but I didn’t have much of a relationship with Jesus. I didn’t really “know Him” know Him and reading the Bible (if I ever took the time do it) was more of a chore than something I did to seek Him and know Him. I was 22 years old and in college. My faith? I believed in Jesus but didn’t give much thought to it beyond that.
This particular day, Bethany was telling me about her previous experiences in Miss Michigan Pageants. She had formerly been crowned Miss Bay County and had competed in Miss Michigan.
She was telling me about a decision she had to make about whether to continue competing in pageants. This had happened years prior to her telling me, but she was explaining how she had came to her career after competing.
She told me “If I didn’t make the top 10, I knew God had a different plan for me.”
She said it so naturally. And so matter-of-factly with conviction and continued on talking about her family and current career that her and I had worked together in.
But that really hit me: “..I knew God had a different plan for me.”
Here we were on a work outing and she shared that detail -and spoke of God – so naturally. And unexpectedly. She didn’t continue to tell me that “God has a plan for me too” or anything like that. She didn’t quote any Bible verses or continue with a planned speech to me. She could have, and there are times for that, but she didn’t here and it was something I have not forgotten.
She conveyed a firm and confident trust in the God we both knew, but the One I didn’t really know personally.
She shared what God was doing in her life with genuineness and conviction. That was it. But I needed to hear it.
I walked away from that conversation and that conviction “..I knew God had a different plan for me,” with an eagerness to know God the way she did.
I wanted a faith like she had.
If He could work in her life that left her knowing with absolute certainty that He was guiding her, then certainly He could work in my life too.
If she could be that certain and that close to Him, then certainly I could too.
If she could know Him like that, then certainly I could too.
And I wanted a faith like that.
I got home from our work outing that night and opened my Bible. I wanted to know God like she did and I knew the place I needed to look was His Holy Word.
So I started reading my Bible. I started reading His Word because I wanted to know the One who created me with a conviction like she had.
And that reading of His Word at 22 years old laid the foundation – this deeper knowing and start of a relationship with the Almighty – that left me knowing with certainty 6 years later after a horrific car accident and chronic pain – that the Holy Word of God was the only thing I could be certain of when everything around me was suddenly so uncertain.
Why Is It Important To Share Your Faith
So let’s loop back to this question again: Why is it important to share your faith?
You never know how God will use something you say to impact someone else’s faith.
God may use what you say to encourage someone else to seek Him out.
God may use something you say to encourage someone else to dig out their Bible.
God may use something you say to encourage someone to get on their knees and talk to Him.
God may use something you say to speak truth into someone else’s life where they desperately need to see it. Where they desperately need to hear it. Where they desperately need to believe it for themselves.
How Can I Share My Faith Effectively With Others in Everyday Situations Without Fear?
So how can you share your faith with others?
You don’t need to have the perfect words put together. You don’t need to have a memorized script.
Be genuine. Be confident in the faith and hope you have. Have courage to share how God is working in your life. It can even be a simple statement like Bethany’s: “…I knew God…”
I hope this leaves you encouraged to know you don’t have to say the right words. You don’t need to have a speech prepared and “have it all together” – because you never know how God will use something you say to impact someone else’s faith.
After all – if we can point someone to Jesus, if we can point someone to the cross – God in His grace, His perfect love, and His perfect mercy will take it from there.
He did with me.
Thank you for this message of encouragement to be brave with my faith story.
We plant seeds, He waters, and we watch for the plant to grow, then we see the fruit.
So beautiful!
Great post Lisa!
Lisa, I love your heart for helping us share our faith and also for those of us who deal with chronic health issues. I have a neurological disease that includes chronic pain so I’m excited to find your blog!
Thank you Patti and I am so happy you are here. Blessings to you this Easter 💙