I got an e-mail today from a friend... Kristin, thanks for caring enough to ask me this...
Below is the question she sent me for her small group she is leading and it got me thinking... so here is the question and here was my response....
Kristin: Do you share your faith regularly?
Me: Now that I am "growing up" I find that I am sharing it more and more... however, I am ashamed to say that I sometimes get embarrassed or if I am in a hurry and know or sense that the other person is NOT a Christian - I hold back... which is horrible... I am trying to find a balance... I am just trying to work it into my life - much like talking about my kids or my husband... example - yesterday the cable guy (yes, this is true not a "funny" made up to make a point) was here fixing our cable... we got to talking about our kids and he was telling me that his daughter is a biter... I told him that my son just got bit two weeks ago at church(don't worry Amy, he doesn't know Maylee!)... he laughed that it was at church and started talking about where he goes to church - in the past I would have just said in nursery or daycare and not mentioned church... and the sad thing is that it would have limited what he could share about his family and what God is doing in their lives...
I think the one thing that I am learning is that my relationship with Christ should be a constant communication with HIM... not just scheduled prayers, devotional time or church on Sundays... it is in the car, the shower... I try to "call" HIM first with exciting news instead of rushing to call Wade, a friend, my mom or whoever I can get a hold of... much like our relationship with HIM... how we talk about HIM to others should be the same.... if I am living "in HIM and HE in me" sharing my faith regularly becomes the very act of living. I can not live a day without sharing Christ if HE is truly living in me and I am living in HIS will...
Christ can not live within me if I am not loving others... Christian, non-Christian, whatever race, religion... whether someone is a friend or a foe... I have to love them all as Christ loves them... it really doesn't matter how I see them or how I feel that I have been wronged by them... I need to choose to see them as Christ sees them... a child of God, created in HIS image... forgiven, like me, for whatever sins. I have to separate myself from the role of judging and take on the role of loving unconditionally, in ALL circumstances....
What about you? Do you regularly share your faith? Comment back...
Below is the question she sent me for her small group she is leading and it got me thinking... so here is the question and here was my response....
Kristin: Do you share your faith regularly?
Me: Now that I am "growing up" I find that I am sharing it more and more... however, I am ashamed to say that I sometimes get embarrassed or if I am in a hurry and know or sense that the other person is NOT a Christian - I hold back... which is horrible... I am trying to find a balance... I am just trying to work it into my life - much like talking about my kids or my husband... example - yesterday the cable guy (yes, this is true not a "funny" made up to make a point) was here fixing our cable... we got to talking about our kids and he was telling me that his daughter is a biter... I told him that my son just got bit two weeks ago at church(don't worry Amy, he doesn't know Maylee!)... he laughed that it was at church and started talking about where he goes to church - in the past I would have just said in nursery or daycare and not mentioned church... and the sad thing is that it would have limited what he could share about his family and what God is doing in their lives...
I think the one thing that I am learning is that my relationship with Christ should be a constant communication with HIM... not just scheduled prayers, devotional time or church on Sundays... it is in the car, the shower... I try to "call" HIM first with exciting news instead of rushing to call Wade, a friend, my mom or whoever I can get a hold of... much like our relationship with HIM... how we talk about HIM to others should be the same.... if I am living "in HIM and HE in me" sharing my faith regularly becomes the very act of living. I can not live a day without sharing Christ if HE is truly living in me and I am living in HIS will...
Christ can not live within me if I am not loving others... Christian, non-Christian, whatever race, religion... whether someone is a friend or a foe... I have to love them all as Christ loves them... it really doesn't matter how I see them or how I feel that I have been wronged by them... I need to choose to see them as Christ sees them... a child of God, created in HIS image... forgiven, like me, for whatever sins. I have to separate myself from the role of judging and take on the role of loving unconditionally, in ALL circumstances....
What about you? Do you regularly share your faith? Comment back...
PS... want a GREAT read... get The Shack... it will knock all your conventional thoughts and questions you have about God how he can "allow" evil out of the water... it is a MUST READ for every Christian out there!!!
2 comments:
Hey Lees-
I am so glad that you were moved by my question--and only because I was convicted by the "assignment" given in our small group! I really want to be a person that shares my faith "as I go" (see Matthew 28:19--making disciples as we go). I want to be the person who has such a vital relationship with Christ that sharing the gospel is as natural as breathing, because it comes from an overflow of my genuine, daily relationship with Him. I also want to get to the point that I see people either as someone who knows the Lord, or someone who might not/does not (instead of seeing them as, "the cashier at Target" or the neighbor 2 doors down who pulls into the garage and shuts the door before even getting out of his truck. I think it's weird, instead of thinking he must be lonely and needs us to reach out to him. I don't know. All I know is that I do not share my faith as regularly as I would like because I am afraid of rejection, pure and simple. If I could remember how much it grieves God when I shut my mouth in a time of obvious opportunity, then maybe that rejection might seem so insignificant compared to the joy I miss out on when telling someone about knowing the God of the universe in a personal way.
I just wandered here to your blog, and I must say, you have a BEAUTIFUL family!
It is a challenge to share, especially with strangers. But I've always tried to live my life so that my actions are an example of His love.
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