Don’t Let Fear Be Greater than Your Faith, Share It!

Whenever anyone dies unexpectedly, there is always shock followed by an outpouring of disbelief.  Even when we know someone’s death is imminent, we are stunned by the finality of knowing a family member, friend or someone who has impacted our lives is no longer on this earth. We will all eventually die. None of us knows our appointed day or hour, but scripture tells us there is a time to be born and a time to die. We don’t necessarily like to think about it, but it’s true. I’m sure we have all dealt with the loss of someone we love and the impact their death left on our lives.

Last week a musical icon from my generation died unexpectedly. Prince was an extremely talented artist who impacted many lives with his music. People say he was the most generous and kind individual they had ever met, and once you had been in his presence you knew there was something very special about him. There have been many articles which mentioned his religious faith. Some say he was a Seventh Day Adventist who later became a Jehovah’s Witness. Others say he was a conservative Christian who opposed gay marriage. I’m not sure any of us really knows, and only God really knows his heart.

I hope that in Prince’s life, someone close to him shared the love of Jesus and the testimony of what Christ did for him on the cross. It would be a tragedy to think he died never knowing the truth of Jesus Christ. I had to ask myself, are there people in my life who know I am a believer, but I have never shared my faith with them because somehow I have felt they wouldn’t listen or want to be bothered?

The fact is it doesn’t matter what I think, what is important is what God calls me to do. Why wouldn’t I share something as precious and valuable as my relationship with Christ? Because the enemy loves it when we live in fear. Never let your fear be bigger than your faith.  All the money and fame and power in the world can’t buy everlasting life. That can only come through believing in Christ’s sacrifice for you. Isn’t that worth sharing with everyone?

When we put someone on a pedestal, we can be in danger of putting a human being in what is God’s rightful place as the first and foremost influence in our lives. If we are to honor God we need to keep people, places and things in the proper priority. Souls are precious to God, and they need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ from those of us who know Him. It is not God’s will that anyone should perish. This is a message which needs to be told over and over again.

We are constantly competing with a world which is fighting feverishly against the truth of God. We can’t allow the enemy to keep stealing the message of God’s love. We all have the ability to influence someone for the Kingdom. It is time for us as believers to stand up, fight the enemy and make sure no one leaves this earth without hearing the only message that will make a difference.

There was a gentleman I used to work for who didn’t come to know Christ until he was in his eighties. He went to church every week for much of his life, but never heard the story of Jesus. Once he was saved his mantra became “Don’t Keep the Faith, Share It!.” It is true faith isn’t something for us to keep for ourselves, but to share with a dying, hopeless world.

When God calls me home someday, I pray my legacy will be one that impacts lives because of my faith in Jesus Christ and it will be abundantly clear who I stood for and why….because I truly loved as Jesus loves me.