With Our Struggles, We Can Still Tell People About The Good News
14I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike. 15So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. 16For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:14–17 (NLT)
Have you ever felt ashamed of how struggling you are in the Christian life and therefore you wouldn’t want to tell people about the Gospel, although there was time that God was touching your life mightily and saved you?
The common belief that sharing the Gospel requires a saint-like perfection among believers often discourages them from openly embracing and proclaiming their faith. This misconception overlooks the Gospel’s core message and the life examples of New Testament figures like Paul.
The Essence of the Gospel
At the Gospel’s heart is the truth that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This reveals that our ability to share the Gospel relies not on our moral perfection but on Christ’s sacrificial love and grace. The Gospel is profoundly good news because it offers redemption and transformation to imperfect individuals through faith in Christ, highlighting that it is the power of the Gospel itself, rather than the power of our life examples, that truly brings about change.
Paul’s Example
Paul’s life before and after encountering Christ demonstrates the Gospel’s transformative power. Initially an active persecutor of Christians, Paul’s radical transformation was rooted not in achieving flawlessness but in receiving God’s grace. Despite his weaknesses, as he openly shares in his letters (e.g., 2 Corinthians 12:9-10), Paul was unashamed of the Gospel. His confidence came from experiencing its power firsthand, not from his own virtues.
The Barrier of Shame
The fear that our lives don’t adequately reflect the Gospel’s power can make us hesitant to share it, driven by shame from not meeting God’s standards. However, this perspective fails to grasp that the Gospel is a gift for the guilty, not a reward for the righteous. Our sharing should therefore be motivated by gratitude for God’s grace, trusting in the Gospel’s inherent power to save and transform, rather than in our own persuasive examples.
Encouragement to Believers
We are called to share the Gospel as redeemed sinners, not as perfected saints. Our real-life stories of failure and victory can authentically illustrate the Gospel’s power, making the case for God’s grace being available to everyone. It’s in our vulnerability and acknowledgment of God’s work in our imperfections that the Gospel’s power is most vividly seen.
Reflective Consideration
Consider this: How does recognizing the intrinsic power of the Gospel, independent of our personal achievements or failings, free you to share its transformative message with others? The Gospel shines brightest when we acknowledge our weakness and God’s redeeming work in us, relying on its divine power for change rather than the persuasive power of our own stories.
In essence, the call to be unashamed of the Gospel invites us to trust in its divine power as the true agent of change in our lives and the lives of others, beyond our personal narratives of imperfection.
Have you experienced the transforming power of the Gospel personally in your life? If so, in what ways can you be a conduit of this power to others, sharing the hope and transformation the Gospel offers? Talk to God about it.
There is a person in our church (I won’t name any name) who is a living illustration of this. Despite their ups and downs in the Christian journey, this person experienced God’s grace in a real way and therefore never stopped telling others about God’s Good News.
Lord Jesus, I pray that Your saving grace would be so profoundly impactful in my life, that I could mimic their shameless conviction to let people know how great You are. Amen.
I have absolutely experienced the transforming power of the gospel personally in my life, and I continue to experience it to this day! Today’s reading really resonated with me. There was a time when I had the very same misconception that was talked about- that I had to have things all together in order to be an effective conduit of Jesus’ transformative power to others. However, what I’ve come to learn, is that in reality, the opposite is true! My concern was that I would appear to be a hypocrite if I was talking about Jesus but still struggling in my own walk with Him. But really, when I am honest, open, and real about my own struggles, it seems that people are better able to relate, and in this I am a more effective conduit of the power of Jesus’ gospel message of hope and life- a message that is tailored for imperfect people like myself! Thank You Lord for Your amazing grace, for the impact Your grace has had on my own life, and for the opportunity to be a conduit of that grace in the lives of others!