Read 1 Peter 1:3-5 

No one has to twist our arms to speak about things that we value––we easily speak of that which we love.  Just ask someone why they bought the car they just bought. Or where they found a deal on something they were looking for.  Or their favorite sports team.

So why does it seem so difficult to talk with friends and family about Jesus?  We say we value and treasure the gospel but we often find it so hard to actually open our mouths and tell someone about Christ.  As a result of this difficultly we beat ourselves up when we feel like we have missed an opportunity and we can easily grow discouraged when our relationship with Christ doesn’t translate into more conversations with others about Him.  

So how can we begin to proclaim Christ with others with more frequency?

Is the answer to search for new techniques or programs for evangelism?  Is the answer to try and find the perfect transitionary sentence to turn conversations to Christ?  While these things can be helpful to think about from time to time, I think the first and best way speak more about Christ is to seek to value the gospel more.  As we treasure the gospel and see it’s value more clearly, we will have more likelihood to speak of it to others who are without it’s treasures.  The more we mine the gold of the gospel for ourselves, the more we will point to others where to find true riches.  More delight means more opportunity for the joy we have in Christ to be readily available to pass along to others.

To increase our delight, we should meditate on verses like 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation read to be revealed in the last time.”

We have been born again— made alive to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  As a result of this living through Christ, we are made alive to an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance.  We are heirs to God’s riches.  Not only we are heirs, but we are heirs that have a bodyguard until we attain to that inheritance— the bodyguard of God’s power through faith.

Typically, you don’t have to talk to someone long who is passionate about a certain subject until it spills out into the conversation.  When we know and delight more in our inheritance, it should encourage us to desire to speak all the more clearly and honestly about these riches that are available to others.  Let’s be people who so delight in the gospel that it spills out naturally into our relationships with those who don’t know Jesus!

Live with a Mission today: Think about friends who don’t know Christ and about what you normally talk about with them.  What are you expressing about what you value in your conversations? Ask God to help you delight more in the good news of His Son and for this delight to spill over into conversations with these friends in the coming days and weeks.