What I Would Say

READ: JOHN 3:16-18; COLOSSIANS 4:3-6; 1 PETER 3:15-16

My niece got me thinking recently. She wrote me a letter asking what I would tell her about Jesus if she didn’t know about Him. She said she wanted to know so that she would know what to share with others. I was surprised when I didn’t have an immediate answer for her.

As I spent time thinking, I considered the fact that you really need to know what someone has heard about God and Jesus before you can start sharing with them in a helpful way. You need to know what their beliefs are and how they feel about things. You need to listen to them.

I told my niece some of that, and then I told her I would want her to know that God loves her. I would want her to know that she can be forgiven and that there is grace out there big enough to forgive us over and over again.

As I thought about what I would share with someone if they didn’t know Jesus, I thought about how I would explain that they were carefully crafted by God. Rather than just jumping into Jesus’s death and resurrection, I would want to start with a bit of a backstory.

I’m thankful that my ten-year-old niece got me thinking about all of this, and I’m in awe of how she wants to go out and share about Jesus with others. It can be so helpful for us to think about what we would say to someone who doesn’t know Jesus—and to consider how different people will need to hear His message of hope in different ways. • Emily Acker

• Have you had opportunities to tell others about God’s perfect love and justice, and how He made the way for us to be saved through Jesus? What was it like?

• Has someone ever shared the gospel (good news) with you? Did their explanation make sense to you, or did it confuse you? If you want to know more about the gospel, check out our "Know Jesus" page.

• God invites us to be part of His good work of sharing the hope of Jesus with others, and He knows that everyone is different. Through His Holy Spirit, He’ll help us tell people about Jesus in ways that will resonate with them. The first step in telling others about Jesus is listening to them. You can ask questions like, “Who do you think Jesus was?” or “What do you think God is like?” or “What have your experiences with Christians been like?”

I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness. Psalm 40:10 (NLT)