“I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story because I know it is true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.
(Christian Hymn “I love to tell the story”
by Katherin Katherine Hankey 1866)
Do you know any follower of Christ who struggle to talk with others about their faith? The number is probably much higher than we can imagine, which is very sad considering we have been “given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13: 11). There are common reasons people cite as the cause of their struggle but mostly it is linked to the uncertainty about what to say. When Jesus discussed sharing scripture, He quoted Isaiah saying, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn”. This is a key statement because He told the disciples and us that God chooses who and when the truth will be revealed. If we forget this, it is God’s message that we are sharing, not our own, and He must be involved in the sharing.
So, if God allows those around us to get the message, do we have any role? The answer, of course, is yes, as outlined in our great commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Someone must share, as Paul suggests, “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? (Romans 10:14). Jesus told us to go out and share His truth, and He told us that the Holy Spirit would be given to us to help us. God will create circumstances that will put us in a position to tell someone about our faith, and we should be prepared.
It need not be a struggle to talk about our faith if we approach it remembering that God is preparing people to hear. Millions of people know about God because a handful of disciples obeyed the Holy Spirit’s nudge and shared the stories they knew about Jesus. Millions are prepared to hear about Jesus, especially at this time of the year when Christmas is in the air. We can be part of this tradition of telling the story.
Pray our family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues are open to hearing the Christmas story and our own story of faith. We can share about our life before becoming followers, the events that led to our becoming followers of Jesus, and our lives after accepting Jesus. All believers should know their own story, which Jesus wants us to share. We should recall, recognize, and rehearse our story to recite it to those who Jesus prepared to listen. The only struggle we genuinely face is between us and the evil one. He wants us to keep the truth to ourselves because our story includes him as the defeated enemy of God.
Galatians says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). The Holy Spirit lives in followers and wants us to share God’s news. Let’s work with Him.