“If we are really in love with Jesus. If we are madly in love with Him, it’s easier to share our faith.”
Our most recent guest on the Ask About My Faith podcast, Jaime Lyn Wallnau, blessed us with incredible stories and inspiring revelations.
Jaime Lyn is the author of Holy Revolution and the founder of The Set Apart Women podcast and ministry. She was born and raised in church and always had a heartfelt relationship with God, even from a young age. But it wasn’t until her college years that the Holy Spirit truly gripped her life.
Overcoming The Fear Of Man
Growing up in the church, Jaime Lyn wasn’t shy about her faith. But as she got older, like many of us, the fear of man began to set in. She grew up in a church with a very religious and judgmental atmosphere. Even in college, those who were Spirit-filled on campus liked to be “radically loud” about their faith.
While studying for her graduate degree, she started attending a new church and was baptized by the Holy Spirit. Something shifted in her, and Jaime Lyn became “that closeted Spirit-filled girl.” Despite being filled with the Holy Spirit, the fear of man’s reaction and rejection still weighed on her.
Over time, her heart became more and more convicted. Ministering to strangers was an easy first step. Later, she learned how to minister to those close to her. The key to make that step was truly knowing Jesus.
“Let your faith be made real by falling in love with Jesus. The Holy Spirit has come to point us to Him, and He can help us fall in love with Jesus.”
Related Post: 7 Truths the Bible Teaches About Love
Learning to Share Your Faith with Believers
A big part of Jaime Lyn’s faith journey has involved her stepping out of a closed-minded, religious experience and into a more Holy Spirit-guided faith. She shares beautiful moments where she could speak openly about her deep faith with believers who were hesitant or closed off.
Non-believers are not the only ones who need to be ministered to. There are plenty of people in churches today who know God logically but haven’t made a personal connection with Him. Letting go of judgments and expectations to share your experiences with God will bless them more than you can imagine.
Learning to Share Your Faith With Complete Strangers
More recently, Jaime Lyn has seen God move wonderfully when she talks to strangers about Jesus. She has blessed her hairdresser with a word of encouragement, and showed love to people at an Anime/Comic Con event.
Approaching strangers to offer prayer doesn’t always go over well. Letting rejection pull you down is easy, but Jaime Lyn offers some great advice. Rejection isn’t something we need to hold onto. Holding onto it just opens the door to more fear.
Related Post: What Jesus Teaches Us About Faith Conversations
Learning to Share Your Faith With Those Closest to You
Jaime Lyn has also ministered to family members at important gatherings.
A family member had been hurt by the church and walked away. Jaime Lyn wanted to talk with them about Jesus for years, but struggled to find the courage. Instead, she prayed. Alongside other family members, she prayed for 12 years that this family member would return to Jesus.
It finally happened at her wedding. She prayed that her family member would encounter the Holy Spirit at her wedding, and they did without any miraculous event. They have been walking with God ever since.
Lesson learned: Like many of us, living our faith openly with friends and family can sometimes require more effort and conviction than sharing it with strangers. With strangers, you don’t need to worry as much about rejection. If they reject you, you can easily shake it off and go about your life. But if someone close to you rejects you when you open up about your faith, that feels more personal and can have a lingering effect.
This has been a struggle for Jaime Lyn, but she tries to remain faithful and remember God truly holds anything and everything we need. “Everything I went searching for in the world, I couldn’t find it because it wasn’t there. It’s only in the man Jesus.” With that in mind, sharing your faith with those close to you helps them find everything they seek.
Related Podcast: Check out our conversation with Anna Kokesh
Jaime Lyn’s Advice
As always, we finished our conversation with Jaime Lyn by asking her if she had any advice for our listeners and readers. She had three to offer.
It is crucial to know God’s word.
“The world isn’t getting prettier and lighter. It’s getting darker, and with that, the light and love and purity of Jesus is going to be a lot louder. Because we all know that the darker the room is, the louder a tiny light is.” You must fall in love with His word to spot the truth when the world comes against it.
Let your relationship with Jesus empower you to share your faith courageously.
“The more informed you become, the more courageous you will be.” In other words, the more you know about God, the easier it will be to share your faith.
Pray!
.jpg)
Don’t just pray for yourself; pray for other people and watch God do what He says he will do.
What is holding you back from sharing your faith? Are you struggling with the fear of man? Do you lack conviction? We encourage you to take some time this week and examine your heart and spirit. Ask God to guide you to the answer because sharing the gospel is not meant to be difficult.
How Does Love Work with Faith?
Faith and love go hand in hand: consider them two different sides of the same coin. Sharing our faith shows our love for God and our love for Jesus empowers us to share our faith. In faith, we believe that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16) and in love, we face fear to tell others about Him and invite them into the faith. As with Jamie Lynn’s story, when you encounter the love of Jesus, His love for you and others becomes contagious. When we receive love and walk in love, sharing the faith doesn’t feel like a chore, it feels like sharing our love for Jesus.
Read more about love working with faith: How Overflowing Love Leads to Faith Conversations
How Does Love for Jesus Help in Sharing Your Faith?
Our love for Jesus is the reason that we share our faith. What would we have to share if not for the love of Jesus? As the Scriptures say:
We love because He first loved us. - 1 John 4:19 NIV
Because Jesus loves us, He was willing to face ridicule, mockery, torture, and even death to destroy to power of sin, show His power over the grave, and become our savior – able to save us and make a way for us to be with God forever. Jesus loves us so much that He not only made a way for us to get to Heaven, but He made a way for us to know Him. If you're wondering how to share your faith, simply share about how Jesus loves us all! You can always share your faith by telling your story, how the love of God changed your life, and how to follow Jesus.
Want to learn more about sharing your faith? Listen to the Ask About My Faith Podcast!
A Few Bible Verses About Sharing Your Faith
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. - 1 Peter 3:15 ESV
It’s really common when sharing your faith to have people ask questions. You may not always know the answers and that’s okay! Remember: let the love of Jesus lead you when you’re sharing your faith.
And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. - Philemon 1:6 ESV
This sharing your faith Bible verse empowers us as Christians to share our faith with others. We share our faith because we love Jesus, but we also share our faith for the sake of Christ, that Christ Jesus would be made more known!
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. - Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
This is one of the most memorable Bible verses about sharing your faith in the Bible. Jesus is speaking these words towards His disciples and towards all who will ever read.
Learn more about the power of conversation and sharing your faith: The Power of Conversation with Caleb Crutchfield
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. - Luke 19:10 ESV
This Bible verse about sharing your faith reminds us of the old hymn Amazing Grace. It’s because of the grace and love of Jesus that we share about our faith with others. We were once blind, but now we see and are able to love God with all of our hearts and soul. As we see in the life of Jamie Lynn and all of our other guests on the Ask About My Faith podcast, the love of Jesus is the great motivator that drives us each day.
