I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel

"For I Am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."                                  Romans 1:16.  NKJV

Do you ever feel ashamed of your faith, or in other words, feel embarrassed when some people discover you're a Christian? This may be when you're with close family or friends who are not believers and you may feel that you don't want to offend them. Therefore, you remain quiet about your faith. This may be when you're at work or anywhere else where there may be a strong animosity about Christianity and religion.

Quite often certain jobs and places of training, such as universities can be hostile towards a person's faith and are discriminatory to them. There was one Christian chap who was at University with me, training to be a social worker specialising in child care. In a group discussion, the lecturer, who had a reputation for not liking Christians, asked him if he believed in smacking his children if they were in the wrong. He replied that he did as the scriptures say:

'He who spares his rod, hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.'
                                                                                                            Proverbs 13:24

The lecturer then brought up scriptures such as Proverbs 23:13-14 which refers to correcting a child with a rod. The chap tried to explain that the passage was referring to spanking the child, not beating them as in physical abuse. However, he was on a hiding to nothing and very nearly got thrown off the course. The devil loves to stir up bad feeling.

The apostle Paul was determined that he would not be ashamed or embarrassed about doing what he had been called to do - spread the Word and plant churches. He would not let anything get in his way of doing this task. He knew the oppositions that he faced and was willing to take them on, no matter what, and this is the determination and attitude that we need to have as well.

There comes a time in our walk with God that we must make a stand concerning our faith. This happened to me when I was completing my social work training at Uni, all those years ago. I was on my final placement and a social worker there, who didn't like Christians - at all - stirred up a hornet's nest about my faith stating that I believed that homosexuality was an abomination and that I would be discriminatory in my practice.
This was a classic example of how our enemy, the devil twists the truth. A meeting was called to discuss this and my future. I challenged them quoting Leviticus 18:22 which says, 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.' I made it clear that God finds the act of homosexuality an abomination, not the homosexual. He loves them and would expect me to do the same. I told them that I was not here to judge but to do my job and honour other workers and the people I see as clients. I did not have to agree with their lifestyle or have it forced on me, as I wouldn't expect them to agree with mine or have my Christianity forced upon them. The meeting ended and God honoured me because, I had honoured Him by making the stand. Why? Because I AM not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 

If it wasn't for Jesus, we would have nothing, we would be lost. However, He found us, so never be ashamed or embarrassed of your faith.

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com