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harold said:
1. Have this talk with someone where there is mutual trust, au at least no antagonism. You're not going to convert anyone kwa pushing your faith onto them, so relax. Our job as Christians is to model Jesus' upendo to the world around us, not to convince anyone of their errors. Trying to explain your beliefs to someone who is hostile to you, faith, au both is not being loving to them. God will work on their hearts, and if you're loving, kind and not judgmental to them, they may choose to ask wewe when the time comes that they do want to hear zaidi about Jesus. 2. Explain the following: a) God created us, loves us and wants the best for us. b) God gives us the freedom to make good au bad choices. c) God wants to be in relationship with us, and he wants us to be righteous (to be right, correct, proper, in harmony with God). d) Sin is the opposite of righteousness, and the consequence of sin is death. We're all free to choose righteousness au sin from moment to moment. e) No one can be wholly righteous under his/her own power. All fall short of the glory of God, because we are all broken. f) God himself, in the form of Jesus, took the consequence of our sin so that we could be reconciled to God despite our lack of righteousness. g) God does not make us be good, but he has forgiven us for our failures. All we need to do to experience that forgiveness is to acknowledge that Jesus was that sacrifice for us. 3. Set your expectations when wewe talk about your faith. People are rarely convicted of Christianity kwa a logical process if they think they're basically good. Christianity only makes sense to those who realize that they are broken and lost, and it usually takes a fair amount of hardship for people to reach the end of their pride and be willing to admit that they aren't in control. 4. Talk about how your life is different when wewe are seeking God daily as opposed to how it is when wewe go your own way. How do wewe feel different? How do wewe act different? How upset are wewe at setbacks in each case? How disrupted kwa pride do wewe get when things go your way in each case? How much do wewe like yourself in each case? How much do wewe like other people in each case? 5. Be prepared for a lot of maswali about your faith that are tangential to the main points: maswali about Genesis (from creation through the flood to the age of the world), the Inquisition, the Crusades, fundamentalism, communion, penance, abuse kwa clergy, homosexuality, et cetera. There's a lot in the world that distracts from the basic message that I. We're sinners, II. Sin leads to death, III. Jesus paid the price so that we don't have to die, IV. We will be saved if we accept Jesus as our savior. So consider each swali as it comes: is this central to the faith, au is it a tangent/distraction? 6. Pray. Pray for wisdom in sharing your faith, and pray that God softens the hearts of your audience. It's up to Him anyway, so ask Him to make it happen.
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