Have you ever had the chance to share your faith and/or what God has done in your life with someone going through something you’ve experienced before? If you have, you know how completely liberating and joyous of an opportunity it is. It’s a beautiful thing!
Before I go any further with that thought, I want to point out how much I love to write with honesty. That being said…
I know I don’t share my faith enough, and it’s time for me to do something about it.
Okay, I already feel better!
Maybe my confession seems random to you, but it’s something I realized last week as I was reading John Piper’s book When the Darkness Will Not Lift. In chapter five, Piper explains that sharing one’s faith has the ability to lift his or her spirits, and based on my own experience, I can’t help but agree.
“While writing the first draft of this book, I called my eighty-five-year-old father and said, ‘Daddy, I am writing a book on how to fight for joy. What one thing comes to your mind from sixty years of ministry as to what Christians could do to increase their joy?’ Almost without hesitation he said, ‘Share their faith.’ Joy in Christ thrives on being shared. That is the essence of Christian joy: It overflows or dies.”
What I love even more than this passage is what he says next, though it is hard to swallow at first. Piper notes that it is our responsibility, our calling and our burden to make the gospel known in our world, not just because it gives us joy, but because there are lost and hurting people who need to hear it. (This doesn’t mean it’s our job to save the entire world, but it does mean we should be doing all we can to display Christ with the way we live our lives.)
“Christ is the most glorious person in the world. His salvation is infinitely valuable. Everyone in the world needs it. Horrific consequences await those who do not believe on Jesus. By grace alone we have seen him, believed on him, and now love him. Therefore, not to speak of Christ to unbelievers, and not to care about our city or the unreached peoples of the world is so contradictory to Christ’s worth, people’s plight, and our joy that it sends the quiet message to our souls day after day: This Savior and this salvation do not mean to you what you say they do. To maintain great joy in Christ in the face of that persistent message is impossible.”
So, let’s continue to be honest: I can think of at least 10 people right now who need to hear what God has done in my life, especially recently. I need to share my story, not because my story is so great, but because God is SO glorified when I tell it. My story points to Him and all that He has done, and I believe God could use it to bring salvation to an unbeliever.
And He could use your story, too.
I pray that this post would not be a condemnation to anyone reading it. Instead, I pray that it would be an encouragement. I challenge you (as I challenge myself) to come up with someone you can share your faith with this week.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” John 15:16-17
“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.'” Mark 16:15-16
“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 of Christ.” Philemon 1:6
What are YOU waiting for?
Jen
*New to my series on John Piper’s When the Darkness Will Not Lift? Links to previous posts on this topic are below:
Christianity Faith Jesus Christ john piper Salvation spreading the gospel testimony Trials when the darkness will not lift
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