The holidays are here! That means time spent at home with your family.
Many new believers or Christians who just started getting serious about their faith want to go home and share this new joy with their family! You want to be a good witness and model Christlikeness to your family, but you also do not want to come across pushy or self-righteous.
1 Peter 3:15 says, “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
How do you do that well?
Depending on the type of family you grew up in it can be hard to bring up faith conversations. Many families never spoke about spiritual things. It feels awkward and foreign, because IT IS!! That’s okay!
Here are 4 ideas to try this holiday season or the next time you are at home. They can help you identify with Christ well and start spiritual conversations with family more naturally:
1. Offer to pray at meals
Some families never prayed at meal times growing up. Just the suggestion of a prayer would be a major spiritual move and signal to the family you are taking your faith seriously.
I had a businessman tell me he started doing this at lunch with business partners and over the years it sparked several conversations about why he did that. It could work the same with your family
So offer to pray! How can you do that intentionally?
I usually like to thank God for PROVIDING for us. He provided the food, good time with family, but most importantly he provided salvation in His Son Jesus. We always want to thank God for His most important gift.
Take a risk and see what happens!
2. Ask what they’ve been reading
Whether your family is spiritual or not, most people like to read! This can be a great conversation starter.
If your family does go to church, maybe ask what they’ve been reading in their Sunday school group or small group.
Usually they will reciprocate and ask what you have been reading. That’s a great way to bring up things God has been teaching you.
I like to share specific things I am learning and reading, either in the Bible or other books, because it shows that my faith and walk with God are active. He is impacting my every day life! You can offer to buy the book for them or show your family what you’ve been reading.
Try to think of one or two specific things you’ve read and don’t be afraid to show your family member if they ask.
3. Ask if they’ve seen any good movies
This one is a little more of a long shot. I’ve written an article about how you can do this if you CLICK HERE.
Everyone loves movies! Sometimes movies can be a good transition into the bigger narrative that exists in the world.
You could at least share that you learned this from this article. YES! Use this article as an excuse!
The quote is: “Some people think we love sci-fi and super hero movies because there is something in us searching for the transcendent — something bigger than ourselves.”
Ask them what they think about that! Share how you’ve been finding that connection through your faith in God.
4. Have your regular devotional times where people see you
There can be a temptation to hide your new faith. Like I said, no one wants to be pushy. With that mindset I’ve seen people not want to read the Bible or do anything religious in public. This doesn’t need to be the case. People, especially families for whom religion is foreign, need to see that Jesus is having an impact on your life.
Have your regular devotional time. Leave your Bible and your notebook there on the table.
They might ask what you are doing at first. Or they might be weirded out and avoid you because they think it’s your “religious” time and they don’t want to interrupt. Either way, it might intrigue them to ask about it! At the least they will see you and know you are serious about this!
So there you go!! Those are 4 things you could try these holidays. I can’t guarantee any of them will “work” or be automatic open doors. Your family members likely won’t respond exactly how you would hope them to.
Pray! Ask God to work in your family and use you to model and share Christ to them!
What else could you try? Have you done anything else to spark spiritual conversation with your family??
