Christ Church Daily Devotion Oct 21 2023

The main ideas from this information are that we should always be prepared to share the reason for our hope in Christ, and we should do so with gentleness and respect. It is important to look for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus and to explain how our faith helps us in difficult situations. The method of sharing is just as important as the message itself, and we should approach it with prayerful thought and respectful humility. The suggested personal worship option is to pray for guidance in both our message and method of sharing the good news with others. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for October 21st, 2023. Today we will be reading from 1 Peter 3, verses 15-16. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. I see two great points of emphasis in these verses. Always be prepared to tell others about the hope you have in Christ, and do so with gentleness and respect. First, we are to constantly be looking for opportunities to tell the good news of Jesus, which includes a kind of hope that always assures us that God can help us overcome anything that happens in life, as well as an assurance of life with God after we finish our time here on earth. Sometimes those opportunities come as we are telling others about ourselves. Sometimes they come when we are living our life in such a way that someone asks us to explain how we are able to deal with certain situations of difficulty and struggle. I believe the second point of emphasis is just as important as the first. How we go about sharing this message with others. We may have a great message to share, but if we do it in such a way that we turn others off, we have not fulfilled our purpose. Message and method go together. Gentleness and respect are two very good descriptive words for the method we are to use. The common English Bible uses respectful humility. This is you give prayerful thought about what it is you seek to share the good news of Jesus. The best words or images or stories to offer with a particular person or group also give prayerful thought to how you will go about sharing it, the best time and attitude with which to share it. Again, message and method go together. Today's personal worship option, offer this prayer or one like it in your own words, Gracious God, guide me in both my message and method as I seek to share your good news with others through Christ. Amen.