Be Not Ashamed

Proclaiming the Gospel without shame or fear is what we as Christians desire to do at all times. But, do we? Paul said in Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes" So weather we are out and about, or we are having coffee one on one with a friend, do we find it hard to share what Christ has done? What if you know that someone you care about is bathing in a sinful lifestyle, do you share the gospel with them and in love point out the truth of God's word? Or do you hide away and just think to yourself that (I'll pray for them) Because maybe they won't confide in you anymore if they think you just want to "shove the Bible down their throats".

Well, let me tell you where I am with this.....
I am in no way now or ever ashamed of the gospel. I am in no way ashamed of what Christ has done for me, and where he has brought me out of. I can fearlessly devulge all of my sinful past without shame and without fear because the one who died for my shame has cleansed me from my past and has delivered me from my life of sin. Where I fall short in sharing the gospel comes with the fear of not representing Christ correctly. For those of you who know me, know that I struggle with comprehension and memory, so when I am put on the spot I struggle with remembering what to say and I sometimes fear embarrassing myself or even that I'm embarrassing the Lord. Which I know He would never be ashamed even if I do it wrong, because He's so proud of my attempt to give Him all the Glory, but we live in a world that has degraded everything that we do, so we have taken that upon ourselves to mutilate our own self-esteem and confidence. So that is the area in my life that I have to work on. When I think of what God has done for me I can cry a bucket of tears each and every time. When I think of where I would be without Him I am overwhelmed with gratitude. There is nothing about Christ that embarrasses me. Like I said, my embarrassment comes within myself. So my question is, how do we overcome that? Or how do I personally overcome that? A life of little education because of my own learning disabilities and the fear of people knowing about them has brought a lifetime of shame upon myself. Which is now exposed.

I remember when my children were little, I was so ashamed of the little ability I had to read because I couldn't comprehend the easiest of things that I never read to my children. I lived with the embarrassment and the shame that if I read to them that they would realize that I was as stupid as I thought I was. So, we convince ourselves of all kinds of lies that the enemy instills in us through other people or through circumstances. Now that I've exposed my weakness, I ask you to ask yourself if there's anything in your life that prevents you from sharing the gospel. If there is, then I can only encourage you to pray about it and then expose it.

You don't have to necessarily expose it the way I have the way I am doing right now. Your's can be just a quiet conversation one-on-one with someone you trust. It can be an intimate conversation between you and the Lord and then trust him to move you out of that place. We live in a world where the gospel is so desperately needed to be shared. People need to know where true love and grace resides. It's not in the world, it's not in the media, it's not in politics. It is only found through Christ alone. So, I just encourage you that if you are someone like me who struggles with insecurities, that you pray about it and you expose it and you learn how to push past it, because I can promise you that God's purpose for us is to go out into the world and share the gospel. To share without shame, without fear, and without embarrassment. To stand proud and confident of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Also, If you are somebody who is confident and knowledgeable of the word and secure in your belief of doctrine, that I encourage you to not judge others for not sharing the gospel because you don't know why they don't, you don't know what holds them back. What I would ask is that you encourage them and be willing to teach them. Because we are many members of one body, and we all need one another.