Three Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Sharing Your Faith
March 13, 2019
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Fear is the biggest reason why we don’t get out of our comfort zone and tell others about Jesus. Maybe you envision something going horribly wrong once you speak up about what you believe. Perhaps you’re afraid you’ll fail. Or look foolish. Or do more harm than good.
It’s true that any time we choose to share Jesus with others we risk being rejected. However, we cannot let fear rule over us because it will stand in the way of the work God has called us to do. His plan and purpose often reach far beyond what we can see.
Fear is the biggest reason why someone who isn’t apathetic toward the lost, and actually wants to tell them about Jesus, won’t. It is the number one thing that keeps us from God’s work. It is what paralyzes us from telling the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fear is the best attack that the devil can launch against you and the primary arrow in his quiver. But the interesting thing is that fear is mostly an illusion. I’ve heard it described as “(F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal.” It’s smoke and mirrors. The devil is a master magician, and fear is his best prop. That’s because 90 percent of the things we worry about never happen.
And yet fear stops us from moving forward with so many adventures and countless opportunities that God has set before us. It’s the source of the excuses we give for not sharing our faith:
I’m shy.
I’m scared.
I don’t know what to say.
It’s difficult.
I’m not gifted enough.
So how do we get past our fear of sharing the Gospel? How do we disarm that which tries desperately to prevent us from seeing the great blessing of valuable souls won to Christ? Allow me to share three ways you can fight fear for good:
#1 and #2—Prayer and the Holy Spirit
First, we must know as believers that we cannot accomplish anything worthwhile without prayer and the Holy Spirit—and evangelism is no exception to this rule. I call it “The Dynamic Duo.” The next chapter is dedicated to studying how prayer and the Holy Spirit are essential to sharing your faith. Both are truly your secret weapons in the battle for lost souls. When you are faithful in prayer, with the Holy Spirit’s help, you will find strength and boldness you never imagined. Fear won’t have a foothold! As a result, you will see lives transformed for Christ and His glory.
#3—Adopt God’s Appraisal
Understanding the value of one soul is a huge motivator in helping us push past our fear—just like my father was able to spring into action that day and rescue my sister from drowning. If we could begin to see every person we come across as an invaluable soul with an eternal destiny, it would change everything. Billy Graham wrote,
The soul longs for God. Down deep inside every person’s heart is a cry for something, but he doesn’t quite know what it is. Man is a worshiping creature. He instinctively knows that there is something out there somewhere, and he longs to know that something or someone. Your soul longs for vital contact with God. Your soul is valuable because it is eternal—it is forever.
The lost are of inestimable worth to God. This becomes astonishingly clear as we read through Luke 15, where Jesus shared the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law disdained the fact that Jesus welcomed tax collectors and sinners. Knowing this, Jesus told three stories to help them understand God’s heart for people whom the Pharisees didn’t think were worthy. In each story, Jesus told of the great lengths to which each person went in order to find that which was lost! A shepherd left 99 of his sheep to look for one that was lost. A woman combed her house looking for one lost coin even though she had nine other coins. And a father throws a celebration for a son who returned home after the son left, wasted his entire inheritance, and was living with pigs. Over and over again in these parables we see rejoicing and celebration, signifying the great mercy of our God toward sinners—and His unbridled joy when they repent. The lost are valuable to Him.
I hope that you will study these three points and pray for greater courage to share your faith! I discuss four more helpful tools to overcoming your fear of sharing Jesus with others in Chapter 5 of my new book, Compelled: The Irresistible Call to Share Your Faith. May you begin to value the lost as much as God does, and join with Him in His awesome plan to lead many to salvation!
