The three things we should never forget...

To share with people when we're witnessing or even discipling someone.

It's funny how sometimes the most "unimportant" verses you read can be the ones that when you read them again they hit you the hardest. I am going through Acts in my quiet time and today as I was reading, 24:25 just really hit me of what an awesome outline it is of what we should be sharing with others, but very few ever do. Paul was standing before Felix, a Roman governor, and just sharing his faith and in this verse it says how Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. If you go into most churches or turn on the TV, very rarely will you ever find any or all of these three things discussed, but this is what it all comes down to. I mean without these three things, our faith is so small, our walk so weak, and our maturity so hindered. This life is not about us plain and simple, it's not about our happiness or our health, it's about seeking to live righteous lives where we don't merely go to church or read our Bibles, but we live our faith. Our Christianity is not about living one way on Saturday night but then thinking going to church on Sunday is going to make everything ok, we HAVE to practice self-control and not giving into our fleshly desires, but instead seeking Him. And finally, the coming judgment, something people shy away from talking about because they don't want to seem too "preachy", but way too many people are so afraid of talking about it, that by doing so, they're really just holding open the door that is leading to Hell. We will ALL have to stand before Christ at some point, either to receive a crown or to receive judgment, and if you have denied Him your whole life, the later of the two is exactly what you will have to face.

I realize that this is a bit much, and a little heavy for most, but it's the truth. I just wish we could all follow Paul's lead in how he just laid it out there even to a man in authority. He didn't "tone it down", it didn't try to be politically correct, he simply was faithful to fully lay the TRUE Gospel out to a lost man.