The definition of the word bold is a person, action, or idea showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous.
For most of my childhood, I had struggled with being lukewarm in sharing my faith. Being a Christian just seemed like it was not the popular thing to be.
Basically, I was an undercover Christian. You’re probably wondering what I mean by this. An undercover Christian is basically when you hide your faith during your normal life and suddenly bring it out when it’s church time.
I was tired of that. I wanted to make a big change, and I was finally ready for it.
Empowerment Conference changed everything for me. I walked in carrying all this baggage and I left feeling fired up to be the light.
Thank you to the team at Generation Outcry who helped shift my perspective and cheer me on. I finally began to be bold and tell everyone I crossed paths with about Jesus. But my boldness didn't all start at once.
It took little signs to know that I was becoming bolder in my faith. At first, it was even hard for me to wear Christians shirts, but eventually I did, andI even got compliments on them. I invited people to church and was known for always talking about Jesus. People came up to me for prayer, because “You and God are like best friends!” It was amazing to know that I can walk around not having to hide my faith.
As I continued to grow in God, He took me from broken to bold.
Here are two tips to help you start off with being more bold in your faith, based on what I have learned:
(1) Never underestimate simple obedience.
Have you ever had those moments when you’re just sitting and God’s like, “I want you to talk to that person right there” and you’re sitting there like I don’t even know them? That happened to me. Not many people were there and there was this girl sitting by herself. I wrestled with God for a little and then finally gave up and walked to the girl. I sat down and said hi. We began talking and I started talking to her about Jesus and we ended up having a great conversation. I prayed for her and we finished our conversation.
After a friend started coming to church with me, she ran up to me with tears in her eyes and sand this:
"Thank you for inviting me to church! The day you invited me to church, I was going to commit suicide, but then I decided to come with you just to see what it was all about. My life has NEVER been the same."
She gave me a huge hug. I went home that night in awe, because something so simple turned into a huge life changing testimony. All I had to do was submit to God’s plan for my life!
(2) Never underestimate just being kind.
I remember when I was in school that there was this girl that had special needs and every so often she’d scream and it would scare people. So naturally no one wanted to sit with her or talk to her. So, every day I passed her and saw her sitting alone. Till one day I got angry and asked my friends, “Why doesn’t anyone sit with her?” They said, “I don’t know, but to be honest it’s kind of sad.” So, I suggested we go sit with her and they gave it thought and said no. So, I went to the girls in the Christian club I go to. I thought they’d be totally supportive and go but they said no faster than my other friends did. So, I tried to ask one more person. I asked this one girl who had a fire for Jesus in heart. She said yes, and we walked up to the girl and had a conversation about school and God.
Today, I encourage you to write out your story the way I just did. Share what you have learned about being bold. Then, go encourage someone else. You can begin to spread the fire of your faith simply by being obedient and being kind.