Good morning. Today is Wednesday, August 19th

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

📖 Verse Of The Day

— Matthew 5:16

🧠 Devotional

“Preach the Gospel to everyone you know, everyone you meet, every day, at every moment. And if it’s necessary, use your words.” — George Janko

The quote has a great plot twist. The whole time, it sounds like he’s telling Christians to talk about Jesus everywhere they go. Then you get to the end: “And if it’s necessary, use your words.”

And that’s really the whole point.

Sharing the Gospel isn’t only about what comes out of your mouth. It’s about what people see when they look at your life.

That’s easy to forget. When we think about sharing our faith, we usually think about what we’re supposed to say. How do you bring up Jesus? What verse should you share? What if you don’t know how to answer someone’s questions?

But maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Before worrying about what someone is going to hear, it’s worth thinking about what they’ve already seen.

Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16

Notice that Jesus says see.

Someone can hear about grace, but they can also experience it in the way they’re treated. They can hear about forgiveness, but they can also watch someone actually forgive. They can hear that Jesus taught us to love people, but it means a lot more when they’re the person being loved.

Peter even talks about people being “won over without words” by the way a believer lives in 1 Peter 3:1–2.

Without words.

George’s line is based on the older saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” It’s usually credited to St. Francis of Assisi. He probably never said those exact words, but he did tell his followers to “preach by their deeds.”

That’s a pretty good way to put it.

There are absolutely times when someone needs to hear about Jesus. When that opportunity comes, use your words.

But sometimes, no speech is needed.

Sometimes the best way to tell someone about grace is to give it to them. Sometimes the best way to tell someone about forgiveness is to forgive them. Sometimes the best way to tell someone about the love of Jesus is simply to love them.

Preach the Gospel everywhere you go. And when words are necessary, use them.