Being Bold

As I prepare for the mission in July (less than a month away!), I have become acutely aware of how important it is to be bold for HIM.  He demands it of me-- and really, how can I declare my love for Him and then shrink away from men?  How can I deny Him first place?

It is a struggle.  It's nice to be liked among men, it's tempting to just be a people pleaser.  It's hard to hold your closest friends accountable for the Lord and easier to just go along with their choices even though you know they aren't in line with what God desires for them.  It's hard to speak truth to your family even though you know they need to hear it.

It brings me to a Philippians 3:8 and reminds me that for Christ's sake I am to lose myself.

Does this mean abandon others and just focus on me and God?  No.  We are commanded to love each other as Christ loved us (John 15:9-12)-- to serve them and put them before ourselves (Philippians 2: 2-4).

We are challenged to be uncomfortable and sometimes that means making others uncomfortable.  In getting out of our comfort zone, we become completely dependent on God to work in and through us.  2 Corinthians 12: 10, "That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in my weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Pastor Francis Chan sums it up with Luke 6: 22-23:

As Pastor Chan asks-- are you really saying everything that God wants you to say-- because if so-- there will be plenty of people who will be against you (John 15:18).