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“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in
a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I (apostle Paul)
come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you
stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel
without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you…..” (Philippians
1:27).
Why do we proclaim Christ?
There
are mainly two reasons why we proclaim Christ and His gospel: One, it is
Christ’s command to us His disciples (Mark 16:15) and two, we have ourselves
experienced salvation from sin, forgiveness, peace with God, and countless
heavenly blessings after we encountered Christ and were born into God’s family
(Colossians 1:27, 28 and John 1:12), which we would want our fellow-humans to
experience as well.
When
we were born again spiritually, with the joy of the Lord bubbling in our hearts
we were zealous for Christ in telling others about the new life we have found
in Him. Then, as months and years passed by, that zeal, that first love, that
bubbling joy began diminishing in many of us due to various reasons. We started
envying other believers and organizations and churches and succumbed to the
spirit of rivalry against them. The spirit of competition took over, replacing
our love and zeal for the Lord. God’s love and zeal for us has, however, never
diminished – they are eternal! (Philippians15-17).
How do we proclaim Christ?
God’s
desire for us is that we rejoice and progress in the faith to the point that the
joy of the Lord overflows from us! Rather than fighting and competing with one
another, we ought to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of
Christ, demonstrating Christ’s humility, gentleness, patience and love (Eph.4:1-2).
When
we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, we can stand firm in one spirit, contending
(fighting) as one man for the faith of the gospel. This is how we proclaim
Christ! (Read Ephesians 4:1-2 again). Then we will not be afraid of those who
oppose us; and we will realize that God has given us a double privilege – the
privilege of trusting Christ as our Saviour, whereby we become heirs and joint
heirs with Christ of all the heavenly riches; and the privilege of suffering
for Him here in this world. (Ephesians 1:3-8 and Philippians 1:27-30)
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, give me the courage to speak up
for you to the people I meet everyday. May I be zealous for you in sharing the
good news of salvation and eternal life you lovingly offer in Christ to whoever
puts his/her trust in you. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.
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