Rebekah Hawk shares devotional thoughts with us this week. Be sure to stop by the contributor’s page to learn more about her.

“Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” 

No doubt many have heard this pithy saying, often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. The statement seems to elevate the importance of living the truth of the Gospel over sharing the Gospel verbally. 

While I agree that people often do not really care to hear our salvation message if we have not first invested in their immediate physical situation, I think we absolutely need to use words when we share the Gospel. We need to intentionally share Christ whenever we have opportunities to tell others what we believe, why we believe, and why it matters. 

Repetition is the key to learning: if we repeatedly point others to Christ with words, they will begin to see the direct relationship our actions have with needing Jesus! If we do not explain the connection, if we do not repeatedly call attention to the difference the Gospel makes in our daily lives, people will draw their own conclusions. 

Case in point: this weekend, my husband and I took some intentional time to teach our children about the events leading up to Christ’s death and resurrection. We read the biblical account of the Last Supper and Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet, then we put the lesson into action and took turns washing each other’s feet. It was not a solemn, serious occasion. Not five minutes into the activity, our four-year-old upset the bowl of warm water and sent it slopping all over the kitchen floor. 

The next morning, she said, “Mom! Remember when I washed your feet?”

“Yes, I do,” I replied. 

“That was so nice.”

“Why did we wash each other’s feet?” I asked, wondering if she had attached any significance to our activity. She shrugged. 

She had no idea why we had taken the time to act out what we read in the Bible. I stopped and explained to her that we want to serve each other like Jesus served His friends. Even though Jesus is the Creator God, He taught us to serve each other; that nobody should think he is too important to serve others. I was so glad I had asked—what a waste if she had continued to have no idea why we did what we did!

I think the reason we often shy away from speaking about the difference He makes in our daily lives is that we fear we are not letting Him make a big enough difference. We feel totally inadequate to share our testimonies of His grace because we are constantly needing more! I’m so grateful for the bruised and battered testimonies of the disciples: they used words to tell what Jesus did for them, even though they kept making mistakes and fighting their own sins till they died.

 I’m preaching to myself when I say, “Preach the Gospel! Keep preaching to friends, family, your children, and strangers! Even though you are failing in some area of your life right now. 

And always use words.”