How can I share my faith?

Imagine you just came home from summer camp where you met the guy (or girl) of your dreams. He enjoys the same things you do, you have tons of fun together, you feel like you can share anything with him, and you are convinced that there is no one better for you out there.

The relationship continues through the rest of school and while you're at college. Every day that you spend apart is torture. You love him (or her) more than anyone you've ever met. He knows everything about you and loves you because of it (or in spite of it).

One day, the question is asked, and you agree to spend the rest of your life with him, and it makes you happier than you've ever been before... and you don't tell any of your friends about him.

"Wait... what? Why would I not tell my friends about the most perfect relationship I've ever had?"

I don't know, but too often Christians do just that. They enter into a life-long relationship with Jesus, the one who knows them better than they know themselves and loves them more than they can imagine, but they don't tell their friends about this new joy. Sometimes it's because they just don't know how to share it.

There are two really simple ways to share your faith with your friends.

The first way to share your faith with your friends is to bring it up in conversation by asking questions. Chances are, when you're hanging out with your friends, you ask them questions about how their week is going, how their classes are going, how their sports are going, etc. The list goes on and on.

Asking questions is a very natural way to produce conversations. Why not ask a few questions about their spiritual beliefs? Chances are, if you're asking for their beliefs, they aren't going to be too hesitant to share. Ask simple questions like:

Do you have any spiritual beliefs?
To you, who is Jesus?
Do you think there is a heaven and a hell?
If you died right now, where would you go?
If heaven, why?

The key to asking your friends questions is your response as they answer. Listen to them! Make sure that you pay attention to what they're saying and how they're saying it. Also, don't jump in and correct them. Help them to examine what they believe and why they believe it without trying to force them into different answers.

The second way to share your faith with your friends it to talk about it like any other important part of your life. When your friends ask you how things are going, be honest and share with them not only what's new in your life or how your homework is going, but tell them things about your walk with God.

Don't sugar coat your relationship with Jesus either, be honest about times when you struggled or times when you felt that God just wasn't around. But make sure to not focus on those things, but rather focus on the fact that God is amazingly in love with you and with them.