Bold in Faith and Love
Boldness is uncomfortable. Boldness is scary. Boldness may seem impossible. But boldness brings harvest. The word harvest, biblically, is best defined as God’s provision for us and his blessing for others. When we live, pray, and act boldly, we can reap the harvest God has promised us. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Keep fighting, keep standing strong, and keep trusting the Lord. When you walk in accordance with him, a harvest will come.
I won’t lie to you - It’s not always going to be easy. But I do know that it will be worth it. In fact, we are told in scripture that when we live according to the Lord’s standards and not the world’s, we will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” We will get the funny looks and the “I don’t belong here” feelings. But truthfully, that’s a good thing! As a matter of fact, Matthew 5:10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” WOW. What a promise!! We may not feel blessed by the world, but the only thing that should matter to us is blessing from the Lord. Not only will we receive blessings from him on earth, but the scripture says we will inherit the kingdom of God! And that is enough.
In John 15:18, Jesus tells us, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” If you are in Christ, then you are not of the world. One of my favorite quotes is “Be in the world, not of it.” To me that means I should fulfill the purpose the Lord has given me on this earth, but not succumb to the ways of the world. Live among the people, but don’t look like them. As followers of Christ, we are supposed to be set apart and look different. It’s when we look like everyone else in the world that we are doing something wrong. Be someone who leads a life you are proud of, living for the Lord, not someone that follows the ways of the person in front of you.
Here is what I’m not telling you: go around sharing only your opinion and possibly hurting people along the way. Here is what I AM telling you: yes, boldness is sharing your faith even with people who might not agree. But boldness the right way should be done in love. Radical love! 1 John 3:19 says, “We love because God first loved us.” When sharing the Word of God and the message of the gospel, we must do it in love because that’s who God is. And that’s what people want. Love. That and respect. 1 Peter 2:17, “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” Yes, we should go out and be bold in our faith. But we must do in a way that honors God and obeys his Word.
I know I say this a lot, but here I am reminding you again: the gospel is so much bigger than you! It’s not about sharing the message of Jesus for your own glory, but for God’s glory and the potential for salvation of those around you. We are not at war against people, we are war for people. We are at war for the sake of the gospel and sharing it to all who will listen. We should never give up on sharing the life-changing, freeing, beautiful message of Jesus Christ. He is worth it! I once heard someone answer the question “Why do you choose each day to fight for the Lord and share the gospel?” with “Because I refuse to let Satan go unopposed, even for one day.” That answer has always stuck with me. Am I going to let the enemy win, even for a day, just because I’m afraid of what the world might think? Absolutely not. I’m going to fight the battle set before me with grace and love and with hope in my Savior.
Challenges:
Step out in faith. I challenge all of us to be bolder in our faith. To listen to the Spirit and where he’s guiding us, and to walk in obedience to that. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. Let him use you.
Read scripture for guidance. The bible is God-breathed. Everything in it is truth from him. So read it, be familiar with it, and live it out.
Love well. A very simple challenge. Love those around you like Jesus loved. Even the ones that seem difficult to love. It’s what we are called to do. It’s an honor to get to love on the children of God.
Prayer:
Lord, you are so good. You are so worthy of our praise. I pray that we would step out in boldness today. That we would take time to listen to you and where you’re leading us, and we would trust you. I pray over our conversations and interactions with the people around us. That we would be kind, loving, joyful and uplifting. That we would share the truth of the gospel with everyone, believers and non-believers. I pray abundant blessing over every person reading this right now! May you give us overwhelming peace and comfort. We love you and we praise you always. In Jesus’ name! Amen!