Do you have a hard time speaking to others about the gospel? Is challenging to speak about Jesus to your family or friends or co-workers? Have you wanted to tell someone but couldn’t bring yourself to? Have you considered that is Satan whispering to you and making you feel ashamed?
Our culture pressures us to conform to its unwritten rules. We may call it peer pressure, but it is more than just our peers. Satan uses the news media, organizations, and individuals to pressure us to be silent when it comes to the gospel. Yet, the gospel is the best news we can spread.
The Apostle Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel. He reminds him that we are called for God’s purposes and by God’s grace. God’s grace is far more than we often think about. We may define it as unmerited favor. But what does that definition mean? It encompasses forgiveness, blessings, guidance, provision, protection, and more.
Notice that Paul states God’s grace was given before time began through Jesus Christ. We forget that Jesus existed before time began. We remember He was born to Mary at a specific point in time, which is when the divine became flesh. Yet, in John 1, we are told that Jesus existed before time and through Him all things were created.
When Jesus stepped into His creation, He changed everything. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, He abolished death and gave us eternal life. Yes, we will leave our mortal bodies and this world, but we will live forever with God. Satan wants to conform us to this world and be ashamed of the gospel so we will not bring others into the body of Christ. Will we listen to his lies or speak the truth of Jesus Christ?
I pray we all overcome our feelings of shame for the gospel. I pray we choose to tell others about Jesus. I pray each one of us will reject Satan’s lies and speak the truth of the gospel. Do not be ashamed. Reject Satan’s lies. Speak the truth. Tell others about the gospel of Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:8-10 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Marty Pressey 