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Key Bible Verse: Never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord 2 Timothy 1:8. Bonus Reading: 2 Timothy 1:5-12

The fellowship I'd joined at our university included a commitment to "do evangelism" weekly. Teams of two would go door-to-door in the dorms or table-to-table in the cafeteria with a "spiritual survey" to engage students in conversations about their faith.

A group of us were sitting in the lounge on a Thursday night, preparing to do the surveys and invite people to listen to us present the "Four Spiritual Laws." Our campus leader had closed our Tuesday night training with a motivational talk. We'd left excited; now we weren't so sure. "With midterm exams coming up," I ventured, "Maybe tonight's a bad night to do this." A few agreed. "Let's practice explaining the booklet to each other," I suggested, "rather than insulting some nonbeliever with our shabby technique." A few more agreed, though one pointed out that we'd rehearsed this twice on Tuesday. "I think we should stay here tonight," I concluded, "and commit ourselves to pray." Everyone nodded.

That's when Tom, my non-Christian roommate who'd been listening from across the room, walked into our group. He grabbed a booklet out of my hand. "You know what your problem is?" he said. "You're all scared and just making up reasons why you can't do this. I can read this stupid booklet to someone else!"

—Paul Borthwick in Stop Witnessing and Start Living

My Response: What excuses have I made for failing to witness? Were they valid?

Adapted from Stop Witnessing and Start Living (NavPress, 2003) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Give me confidence to risk sharing the gospel, Lord, since You've promised to show up when I do.

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