Tuesday, September 25, 2007
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
WITNESSING CHRIST: BE READY BY HAVING A PLAN
In so many areas of our lives, in order to be prepared for something, it helps to have a plan to follow. For instance, when preparing to travel cross-country, it is probably a good idea to plan the route, to plan lodging accommodations, and to calculate the overall expenses of the trip.
To prepare ourselves to witness Christ to others, we ought to study the Bible. It also might help to formulate a plan for witnessing by thinking of some of the fundamental Bible truths and supporting Bible passages that address the matters of life, death, God and salvation. Below is a sample "witnessing plan", so to speak:
1. We are sinners; sin condemns (Rom. 3:23; Rom. 6:23).
2. We cannot cleanse ourselves from sin (Rom. 3:20).
3. God wants sinners to be saved (2 Pet. 3:9).
4. Only in Jesus are we cleansed from sin (John 1:29; Acts 4:12).
5. Faith in Jesus brings salvation (Acts 16:31; John 3:16).
6. Pain in life? Yes. Peace in Life? Yes! (John 16:33; Rom. 8:38, 39)
Obviously, not every opportunity to witness will be the same, and we don't want to try to force something on a given situation in an artificial way. The point is that it's easier to be prepared for a witnessing situation when we've already given some thought as to what kind of things are important things to talk about when given an opportunity, as opposed to never having given any forethought to important things we might talk about when a witnessing opportunity arises.
In this way, having a witnessing plan can be a good way to be prepared to share Christ with others and it can be a good way to be faithful to the Word of God which asks that we "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks us a reason for the hope that is within us."
