I was rescued in 2006 when I realized that Jesus died for sins, and that included my own personal sins. It was only then when I came to the understanding that I could actually have a personal relationship with Jesus and become a disciple. Looking back I can remember different people in my life who were believers and shared the Gospel with me and I can remember various sermons I listened to, and in 2006 everything came together and I now know that the Holy Spirit was moving at just the perfect time to save me.
I don’t know what your story is, but I can bet if you follow Jesus you can trace back to the fact that it was simply a miracle that you were saved. I know it was for me.
Since then I’ve been able to share the Gospel with others and I basically get terrified every single time I do this. I get nervous, scared, afraid, etc. It’s not because I’m scared about Jesus, but for some reason I keep convincing myself that my performance of how I share the Gospel is going to effect someone’s salvation when this is simply not true.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” – John 10:28
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
Over and over again God makes it clear He does the saving, not us. It’s a gift from God and not of our own doing (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one will ever be able to snatch them out of His hand (John 10:28). It’s only because of Jesus that someone could have eternal life (John 3:16).
God takes the burden off of us to do the saving and only calls us to be the messengers. Yes, we want to know our Bible and understand what we are talking about and yes, we want to make clear that Jesus is the reason that salvation is possible in the first place, but we can’t let the thought of sharing the Gospel put us on the sidelines.
I think sharing the Gospel is easier than we tend to think.
For example (and I’m sure you have many too), I’ve been praying for someone for years to follow Jesus and while this person is not yet a believer, what’s been happening lately is incredible. All of a sudden there are conversations that go much deeper below the surface of every day life. There are questions and intrigue about what the Bible has to say. There’s an interest there now that was never there before and all of this points to the work that God is doing in this person’s life.
I’m not saying that every situation works out exactly the same way, but what I am saying is that we can share the Gospel with others, pray for people, and trust that The Lord is the one who does the saving. Even if we mess up and think we “blew someone’s chance at salvation,” we need to remember it is not up to us. That should not only lighten the load for us, but actually give us confidence to share the Gospel regardless of the responses we get.
God never calls us to save people, but to love and share Jesus with people.
Let’s grow in our confidence to share Jesus with others. Let’s remember how we were rescued and pray for the same rescue to happen to others. Let’s remind ourselves that God is at work, does the saving, and we are called to be His messengers to others. It’s easier than we typically think.
What about you? Have you found yourself making it difficult to share the Gospel with others? Is there something you need to let go of? Please comment below and join the discussion.
This is something I really struggle with. When is the right time? How do I start the conversation? There are people in my workplace I’d love to be able to share the gospel with but haven’t quite figured it out.
Hey Tara, Thanks for sharing. I think a good way to start is to invite people into your life. Welcome them in as Christ has welcomed you. As you take a genuine interest in someone in getting to know them, you’d be surprised how quickly people are open to talk about deeper topics and even spiritual ones. I think more often than that, we as in Christians, get nervous, and make the conversation more about “saying the right words” or “having the right timing” and we forget to just be present and pay attention specifically to the person right in… Read more »