This speech was originally given at the Portsmouth United Methodist Church by me on May 29, 2011 as part of our church's Faith in Action series. I give a speech every month about practical ways you can share your faith with others. If you ever have a suggestion, please let me know in the comments!
A few weeks ago I attended an event to listen to an author talk about his recent book. During the question and answer period, someone asked the author how his faith had impacted his life thus far and I think that his answer really spoke volumes about the process of sharing faith. He said, and excuse me for paraphrasing, that as you grow in your own faith, you transform from a person who is concerned with your own world to a person who is concerned with the world around you. If you follow the author's way of thinking, then the first step in the faith-sharing process is a personal one. By examining your own faith, you start on the path from inward to outward-thinking and over time, I believe that this causes you to grow in faith. I never thought about the progression of faith in that way before, but I think it's very true. If I think about how my own faith has grown, I certainly see the parallel to what the author was talking about. As I understood more about my faith in God and what it meant to follow His word, I inevitably changed my way of thinking. I became a person who wanted to be more Christ-like, and when that happened, I found that I became a more outward-focused person in my actions as well as my thoughts. That's what I want to talk about today.
I whole-heartedly believe that God gave us His Word, He gave us the gift to read and hear and learn his Word to help us grow in faith. Once you have that faith, that gift of belief, the only thing you CAN do is share it. But how? Although there are many ways of sharing your faith, it all starts with YOU. See, when you allow yourself to grow in your own faith, it's almost impossible to keep it to yourself; you want to SHARE it. And that's the point, isn't it? Sometimes the specifics of sharing faith are difficult. People become afraid of evangelizing and pushing their beliefs on others and in that fear, they keep their faith to themselves. I will say that for me, the easiest way to share my faith has to been to surround myself with God, to allow Him into all parts of my life whenever possible. I frequently tell people I'm praying for them, and then I do. I share with others what I'm doing here at our church. I talk with my Christian friends and my non-Christian friends about what it means to have faith. I talk and I talk and I talk. But above all else, I listen. You've heard me talk about how faith can open doors, and about how when you least expect it, God will make Himself known and shine His light into your world. When you take the time to examine your own faith and allow yourself to grow in your belief, in your faith, you'll start to see opportunities that you didn't realize where there. You will start to see those doors opening for you.
