3 Ways To Share Your Faith With Someone You Know
Most of us can probably think of someone we care about who doesn't know Jesus. It might be a friend we see every week, someone we work with, a neighbor across the street, or a member of our own family. We want them to know the hope we've found in Christ, but sharing our faith can feel intimidating. What if we don't know what to say? What if they ask a question we can't answer? What if we're simply not good at this?
Those feelings aren't unusual. When Jesus gathered His disciples in Matthew 28, even some of the people standing in front of the resurrected Jesus were still wrestling with doubt. Yet Jesus gave these imperfect disciples an incredible mission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." He didn't wait until they understood everything or felt completely prepared. Their confidence would come from something much greater than their own ability: Jesus had all authority, and He promised to be with them.
That same mission has now made its way to us. Someone shared the good news of Jesus with someone, who shared it with someone else, and eventually the gospel reached you. If you've been reached by the gospel, you've also been sent with it.
1. Start With the People Already Around You
When we hear Jesus say "go," it's easy to picture missionaries traveling to another country. God certainly calls people to do that, but the Great Commission also shapes what we do in the places where we already live.
As you go to work, make disciples. As you raise your children, make disciples. As you spend time with friends, neighbors, classmates, teammates, or coworkers, look for opportunities to point people toward Jesus.
You don't need a platform or a ministry title. God has already placed people around you who need the hope of the gospel. Your everyday relationships may be some of the most important places where you live out Jesus' command.
Take a moment and think about your own life. Who is one person you know who seems far from God? You don't have to think about reaching everyone at once. Start with one person.
2. Pray for One Person by Name
Once someone comes to mind, begin praying for them.
You cannot change someone's heart or convince them into a relationship with Jesus. Salvation is God's work. That truth should remove some of the pressure we often feel when we think about sharing our faith.
Pray that God would open their heart to see who Jesus is. Ask Him to work in circumstances and conversations you may know nothing about. Then ask God to give you an opportunity to encourage them, invite them, or share what Jesus has done in your own life.
This doesn't require a complicated prayer. Twenty seconds each day can become a meaningful rhythm: "God, help them see You, and give me an opportunity to show them Your love."
Then pay attention. The conversation you've been praying for may happen when you least expect it.
3. Trust Jesus to Be With You
One of the greatest barriers to sharing our faith is the feeling that we're not ready. We think we need to know more Scripture, become better at answering difficult questions, or get our own lives completely together first.
But the Great Commission begins with Jesus' authority and ends with His presence.
Jesus tells His disciples, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew's Gospel begins with Jesus being called Emmanuel, "God with us," and it closes with the same promise: Jesus is still with His people.
That's what makes this mission possible. The Jesus who sends us is the Jesus who goes with us.
You don't need to have every answer. You can simply tell someone what Jesus has done in your life. You can invite someone to church. You can ask a thoughtful question, listen to their story, and be willing to talk about your faith when God opens the door.
The gospel reached us because generations of ordinary Christians were willing to do exactly that. Someone told someone, who told someone else, and the good news continued across cultures and generations until someone eventually told us.
Now we're part of that story.
Revelation 7 gives us a picture of where the story is going. One day, a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language will stand before Jesus. Until then, we live between Jesus' commission and that coming celebration.
So think again about that one person.
Pray for them today. Pray again tomorrow. Ask God for an opportunity, and when He gives you one, trust that Jesus will be with you as you step into it.
Reflect on Sharing Your Faith
Who is one person in your life who doesn't know Jesus that you can begin praying for by name?
What fear or insecurity tends to keep you from talking about your faith?
What would it look like to intentionally live out the Great Commission in the places you already go each week?
A Prayer for Sharing Your Faith
Father,
Thank You for the person who shared the good news of Jesus with me. Thank You that because someone was willing to go, I had an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.
Bring one person to my mind who needs to know You. Open their heart to see Jesus clearly, and begin working in their life in ways I cannot see. Give me an opportunity to encourage them, invite them, or share what You've done in my life.
When I feel inadequate or unsure of what to say, help me remember that You are with me. Give me courage to be obedient and trust You with the outcome.
Use my life to help someone else know and follow Jesus.
In Jesus' name, Amen.