Day 37 of the 40 Days of Purpose

“Sharing Your Life Message”

(1 Pet 3:15 NIV) But in your hearts set apart 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,

Being ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you implies that questions are being asked. That’s a problem for many of us, here a few reasons why.

First, because our lives are not so lived that they readily generate questions by non-Christians. This can be caused by two general factors by the lifestyles of Christians: 1) We so blend in with the world that our lives don’t stand out as anything exemplary of hopefulness to which people would want to know the reason, or 2) We stand out in a negative way causing people to not want to know what makes us different because they don’t like what they see and wouldn’t want it for themselves.

A second problem that causes us to fail to generate questions about our hope is that we are sometimes too busy answering questions that aren’t being asked. We are sometimes too quick with answers to questions that we think non-believers should be asking that we don’t give them a chance to formulate questions about our hope, or even a chance to even see that we have hope. The great thing about trying to get them to ask us about our hope rather than giving them answers that they are not asking for is that when it happens, it takes them directly to Jesus. Other answers overpowers them with doctrine that they can’t process, but giving them an answer for the hope that is within us speaks to what they really want and need – eternal life through Jesus Christ.

A third reason why we may not be generating questions about our hope is that we simply don’t have it! If deep down inside you don’t really believe, it is going to be hard to live and speak in such a way that anyone who sees and hears you is going to know that your life is filled with hope. Some Christians simply don’t have the faith to hope, and their lives show it to outsiders. Why would anyone ask about a life that is as hopeless looking as their own? Who is in the worse condition? Paul answered this:

(1 Cor 15:17-19 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. {19} If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.