Rom 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (NIV)
Are we willing to talk about just about anything with our friends and relatives except the gospel? Even if we acknowledge that we are Christians, do we go beyond just saying that to actually sharing what the gospel actually is? Or are we ashamed of the gospel?
We certainly should be ashamed of anything sinful in our lives. But we should never be ashamed of the gospel. After all, the gospel is the good news about who Jesus is and what He has done.
Apart from Jesus there is no salvation. There is no other means by which anyone can be saved from the consequences of sin. Nobody can save himself or herself. We've all done things "our way" rather than God's way. We all act as though we know better than God about how we should live.
We all are in desperate need of the good news that Jesus is God incarnate and the only perfect sinless sacrifice that is acceptable to pay for our sins of action and attitude, including the attitude that our self-determined "goodness" is good enough for a totally holy God.
Anyone who does not come to believe the good news about who Jesus is and what He has done will have an eternity to regret his rejection of Jesus.
We who by God's grace have come to faith in Jesus and the good news about Jesus, should long for others to come to believe and embrace the gospel, too.
We can't force anyone to believe in Jesus and His atoning death and resurrection. But we shouldn't hide the glorious news about Jesus by our failure to talk about Him to others.
Let's pray for one another to never act as though we are ashamed of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
