Day 26: Words, words, words...

When thinking about loving others, particularly those who don't know Jesus yet, do you ever worry that at the most important times your words will fail you?  What if they ask a question and you don't have a good answer?  What if you stumble or look foolish?  What if, as it turns out, you don't really know what you are talking about?

The Bible has two pieces of advice for us as we seek to love one another and share Jesus' love with our words.

Firstly, 1 Peter 3:15-16 says this: and if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.

Secondly, Matthew 10:19-20 says this: don't worry about how to respond or what to say.  God will give you the right words at the right time.  For it is not you who will be speaking - it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

So one verse is telling us to prepare our words and be ready.  And the other is telling us not to worry for God will give us the words to speak.  But these are not contradictory...

Both verses remind us that we need to be seeking God.  If we know Him better we will be more able to explain our Christian hope.  We should be preparing answers and learning more about the character of God so that we are able to share the good news that has changed our lives.  Our ability to talk about God should be natural and free-flowing because we are talking about somebody we love and spend time with.  We should know who we are talking about.  Equally, if we know Him better and spend more time with Him we will be more tuned to the Spirit whispering the words we need at the right time.  We don't need to memorise a script because our God is living in us and will give us everything we need.

And if we have been reading God's word, the Spirit will have more material to give to us at the right time!

If you have any examples of where God has given you the words to say during the Love 40 days journey, please do share them to encourage your fellow journeyers...

For the kids:
Talk about whether it is always easy to know what to say when we are trying to love other people.  Read the two verses together and talk about how God wants us to think about Him and know Him so that we can share Him with the people we - and He - love.  And talk about who He will talk through us too.  Spend some time asking God to meet with you as a family today so that you can all know Him better.