Who will you bring home?
“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. “- 1 Peter 3:15
To sanctify (set apart) Christ as Lord in our life, we must cultivate a relationship with Him. Cultivating a relationship with Christ requires discipline. Are we willing to read the Word even when we don’t feel like it? Are we willing to pray and talk to God when we mess up? We cannot place Christ as our Lord in our hearts if we do not hold Him in the utmost position in our lives. He comes before it ALL.
Can you defend your best friend when you’re not in the mood? 9/10 the answer is yes! This should be the same for Christ and your faith. Even in difficult times, you should be able to and willingly ready to defend (logically) why you believe in God and why others should too. But why?
Well, because of hope! Hope used in our main text is the Greek word elpis. Unlike our modern English word “hope,” which is wishful thinking or desire, elpis, or hope in the text, is a guaranteed expectation, an assurance, if you will. This is in relation to the promise God made to us through Christ Jesus and His resurrection. We, as disciples, are to be ready to always give a reasonable defense of our faith to the unbeliever or new believer. In giving a logical argument (with gentleness and respect), we, in hopes, bring a soul back home to the Kingdom.
“Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” - Colossians 4:6
Grace - unmerited favor, goodwill, a free gift from God.
It’s something we don’t deserve, yet God gives it freely. The same way God shows us grace, we too, as His disciples, need to be gracious in our speech and actions when speaking with others. Each person deserves a certain level of grace, and the Holy Spirit will give you that for each person. The question is, will you accept it and give it to the people or person you’re assigned to?
“With gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repent leading to the knowledge of the truth.” -2 Timothy 2:25
In each of the scriptures above, God calls us to have grace, gentleness, and respect when we are defending our faith to others. Not only is our conduct important, but also the words we say. How can we say God is a loving God when we aren’t loving people!? We cannot say we love God, yet speak to one another with vile and hateful language, even in anger. Even the unbeliever was made in HIS image. I’m not saying I have mastered this; it’s just something that’s been pricking my heart this week.
The whole purpose of being the salt of this world, speaking with vigor and clarity about our faith, is to win a soul for Christ. We must bring them back home. Sin separated us from God, and until all recognize that all of us can be reconciled back to Him (2 Corinthians 5:18–21), we haven’t done enough.
So, who will you be bringing home?
