How prepared are you to give a reason for your faith? Are you prepared to correct someone else for disobedience to God’s Word? Can you use God’s Word to encourage someone? Are you mature enough in God’s Word to use it with patience?
If we have been in the church long enough, we have heard multiple times that we are to be prepared to give a reason for our faith. For some, it is difficult, and they may not know where to begin. For others, they can recite a reason as though they have memorized it since childhood.
Being prepared to give a reason for our faith is key. Why? If we know why we have faith, it becomes something ingrained within us. It guides us. It is the filter through which we make many of our decisions. When we are caught off guard, we resort to that which is internalized. Being prepared takes work. It takes commitment. And it can be our lifesaver.
We are also to use God’s Word carefully and patiently to correct and encourage others. We have all heard someone use it to harshly rebuke another. Though there may be those rare situations when someone needs a stern rebuke, it should not become abusive. Since when does driving someone with a sledgehammer entice them to follow Jesus? As the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink.”
No, we are to be patient and careful with our corrections. People do not change at the snap of our fingers. For some, it takes years to chip away the stone of defiance. Patience, continued encouragement, small corrections, taking one step at a time is how we change them. We can make a huge difference in someone’s life, if we are patient and careful.
I pray we all are prepared to give an answer for our faith. I pray we delve into God’s Word so we can correct and encourage others. I pray each one of us are patient and careful as we coach others to become followers of Christ. Be prepared. Know why you have faith. Correct others. Encourage others. Be patient. Be careful. Make a difference in someone else’s life.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
Marty Pressey 