The Importance of Sharing

UV 946/10,000 The Importance of Sharing I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Philemon 1 v 6 St Paul exhorted believers in Christ to share their faith actively. We are called to be witnesses of who God is and what He has done in our lives. If we are truly excited and overjoyed at being saved, we will have a desire to share or communicate our faith and the reasons why we believe to our circle of influence. As we share our faith, our circle of influence will expand to include the whole world. We will increase in maturity of faith and in our understanding of the grace of Christ. Paul makes an interesting correlation between our sharing of our faith and our understanding or perception of every blessing we have in Christ. It is said that people who teach their subject understand it better than those who merely attempt to learn it. As we share our faith, our understanding of our inheritance as children of God increases. We become heirs to new spiritual gifts and begin to enjoy new spiritual fruit in our lives. The water in a reservoir that remains there and does not flow out begins to stagnate and become dirty or murky. The Dead Sea is a living example of what happens when a person does not share the blessings he receives with others around him. No water flows out of the Dead Sea. As a result, its salt density is so high that it stings the eyes on contact and no form of life exists or survives in its waters. Instead, we are to be like the Jordan that waters places all along its two banks. As we share our faith, our compassion for human souls, our sensitivity and empathy for them will increase. We begin to understand or comprehend the length, breadth, height and depth of the love of Christ for us. As we grow in faith, there should be a flow of our knowledge and understanding of the Lord and our consequent blessings into the lives of others around us. Our faith should inspire others to believe. It should strengthen and encourage others to place their trust in the Word of God and the blessings it promises those who believe. We can share our faith through our conversation, through our example and lifestyle of prayer, worship and imbibing the Word, through our preaching and teaching, through writing about it, through our acts of charity done to reflect the goodness of the Lord. Sharing the Word and sharing our faith are the methods God uses to expand His Kingdom. When we share our faith we become partners with the Lord in extending His Kingdom. On account of our faith, our names are written in the Book of the Living or the Book of the Lamb. On account of our actively sharing our faith, our names are written in the Book of the Shepherd. Actively sharing our faith earns us the wages of the faithful workers of the Lord- the rewards and blessings of the workers of the Vineyard. Prateep v Philip