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 How Can I Witness? "Always be ready to tell everyone who asks you why you believe as you do. Be gentle as you speak and show respect.” (I Peter 3:15 NLV)
The first time I tried witnessing, my three best friends turned their backs on me and walked away. I was only ten-years-old at the time. It was the Monday after I had been baptized and I couldn’t wait to get to school to tell them. “You’re weird,” they responded. “If you’re going to be a Christian, then we don’t like you anymore!” I spent recess crying in a bathroom stall. That was a tough introduction to witnessing, but it actually turned out okay. Dad told me to just keep being friendly to them. I did, and several days later the three walked up to me and declared, “We decided we want to be your friends again.” That led to many recesses when they asked me questions about God. Loving is Witnessing It doesn’t take being an “in your face Christian” to be a witness. In fact, no one likes being around that kind of person. I think the best text that tells us how to witness is found in John 13:35. Jesus says, “ ‘By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’ ” (NIV). If we want people to know that we’re Christians, if we want to show them what God is like, we need to love them. This actually makes witnessing easy! It’s easy to love, and sometimes you can do it without saying a word. Here are some examples of witnessing through loving: • Help a neighbor. Fix a roof, weed a garden, bake cookies for your neighborhood kids. • Open your home. Have both singles and families over for a meal or games in your backyard. • Start a Neighborhood Bible Study. Invite your neighbors to study the life of Jesus. Have a separate Bible activity for their children. • Care for the sick. Visit those who are hospitalized, in nursing homes, or housebound. Send a card, take flowers, help with food. • Invite your unchurched friends to an event. Start with a church social event. Once they’ve met some friendly members, offer to take them to church service. • Adopt a senior citizen. Visit them and include them in some of your family activities. • Send Christmas cards. Use this opportunity to tell of the wonderful gift God gave to the world. • Show kindness to strangers. Carry someone’s groceries, fix a flat tire, let the shopper behind you go first in line. Go out of your way to make others feel importnat. Your Love = God’s Love These are just simple acts of kindness. It’s easy for people to say ‘No!” to a pushy, opinionated Christian. But it’s pretty hard for someone to say “No” to love. Accepting your love might open the way for them to accept God’s love. By Nancy Canwell. © 2009 AnswersForMe.org. Click here for content usage information. |
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