Sharing Christ – With Your Family (gasp!) tagged: , , , ,

Sharing Christ – With Your Family (gasp!)

Posted by in Bible & Theology

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.  Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” – Acts 16:25-34 ESV

I have done a much of what could be considered “soul winning.”  I have preached the gospel every Sunday for the past upteen years. I have gone door to door in neighborhoods and malls, sharing the good news with perfect strangers. I have had friendly (and not so friendly) discussions with folks about the efficacy of Christ and have called upon people to repent and believe in Him. Yet I will have to admit that many times, and in many ways, I really do not do a good job of sharing with my family (both inlaws and outlaws) the good news about Jesus Christ and His life in me.

God indeed is the only one who can save. He is the only one who can break down the barriers of a hard heart to allow His goodness to flow in to make any change. We who are His believers are the tools He uses to share His message with others. This understanding is paramount as we share with our families about Jesus and His good work He desires to do in their lives.

We are God’s conduit to our families. As the above story from Acts illustrates very clearly, the jailer was the conduit for his family. It was through him that God worked out the miracle in their lives.  He became the tool that God used to bring Paul and Silas into that home to share the message of God’s grace with his family. The results are of course only something that God can do – but He did it through the willing vessels of Paul, Silas, and that jailer that night.

God can use you! It is not an impossible feat for God! If God can raise stones to glorify Him, certainly He can use you to witness to your family about His grace!  All He needs is a willing vessel to do His will. Here are some questions for you to ponder as you think about witnessing to your FAMILY about Christ:

1. Do the things you do when your family is watching command their respect? Will they honor you and believe your message is true because you are honorable?

2. Have you truly shared the Gospel with every one of your family members to where they can understand it?

3. Do you pray by name for your family members, and share with other like minded Christians to do the same with you?

4. Have you made a list of those family members to both pray for/and share with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

If you have honestly and with integrity done these things, then God will be with you when you share His love with your loved ones. Godspeed, and we are praying with both for you, as you pray for me that God’s will be done.