Sharing Our Faith

As followers of Jesus Christ, we all know that we have been commanded by God to go and make disciples until Jesus returns (Matt. 28:19-20). And yet, far too often we find ourselves doing everything but, sharing our faith with those around us. And it’s not because we don’t want to share our faith…I believe every follower of Christ has good intentions of doing so.

So why don’t we? What is it that keeps us from doing what God has commanded us to do? Well I believe that there are many factors that contribute to this short-coming in our lives, but the root of all of those excuses and reasons is pride. Pride is simply putting yourself above others. And we do this in both thought and action.

The apostle Paul recognized our tendency toward pride as well. Listen to what he had to say about it: “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” (Phil. 2:3-4 NLT)

Now most of us don’t have a problem serving other people or sharing our faith with others, as long as that “serving” or “sharing” fits into OUR schedules, and doesn’t inconvenience us too much, right? But this type of thinking is exactly why we don’t find many opportunities to share our faith! We are so focused on our interests, that we miss the needs of those all around us. And that is exactly what Paul is addressing in this passage. He says, “Be humble. Think of others as better than yourselves.”

Why don’t we share our faith as often as we should? Simply because we think of ourselves first, and then if there is any time or energy left over after taking care of ourselves, we will give that to others. So others get our leftovers. And guess what? Do you think Satan is going to allow there to be any leftovers in our lives? No! He is going to make sure our lives are so consumed and distracted with the things of this world, that there will never be any leftovers. And as a result, there won’t be very many opportunities to share our faith, because typically, those opportunities only come after we have taken the time to serve someone else.

But how different would your life look, if you began to view everyone else as more important than yourself? If everyone you met, you were looking to try to help and serve them anyway you could? I bet you would have many more opportunities to share your faith! But then if I am focused on taking care of everyone else, who is going to take care of me, right?

Listen to God’s promise to us: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” (Matt. 6:33 NLT) When we focus on building God’s Kingdom by sharing our faith, He will meet our earthly needs! Do you trust His promise?

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