Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt you should do something but just couldn’t get yourself to do it? This is a very common problem for many people, no matter what the context is, but especially in the context of obeying God's word. James 2:14 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” This verse implies that you cannot just say you are a child of God; you have to act like one. And earlier in the chapter (verses 9-10), we know that acting like a child of God means keeping all of his commandments; not just the easy or convenient ones.

First, let’s define how faith affects us. Consider the fruits of the spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-23. We are taught that a good Christian practices all these things, no matter how hard it is for them. I’d like you to look at it a different way. The fruits of the Spirit are not a conscious effort by an individual to do good, but rather how a Spirit-filled person naturally responds to things; the Spirit changes the way we think and feel about events and circumstances of our world so that we respond the way God would like us to. It doesn’t mean that we can no longer be tempted, but rather that the more Spirit is within us, the more resistant to temptation we become. Then the Spirit and faith in God within us are shown in our actions and interactions with others. This does not by any means imply that conscious efforts aren’t what God wants from us; he loves it when we go through hardship for his sake. This implies that the more Holy Spirit that is within us, the more virtuous we become. The “fruits” of the Spirit are what is shown when we have Spirit, just as the fruits of a tree shows what kind of tree it is.

Now, let’s move on to the application of our faith. A major command repeated throughout the New Testament is the command to spread the gospel no matter the cost (Mark 16:15, 1 Corinthians 1:17, Ephesians 4:11-12). The prospect of doing this, however, is intimidating to many people. They can fear a multitude of things; rejection, humiliation, or persecution. While suffering through these things sounds miserable, neglecting to preach the word leads to a worse fate for both you and them (Romans 10:14-15, James 4:17).

Imagine you're in a business meeting and your boss is relaying the expected sales for the next month. You notice that what he is saying is inaccurate by a large margin, and if your coworkers worked off of this information, it could harm the company. What should you do? Doing nothing is out of the picture because if things went too far south you could lose your job along with many others. You could always hold your tongue and wait until after the meeting to tell everyone privately that the information was inaccurate, but that would take too long and by then a detrimental decision could have already been made. You realize the best course of action would be to correct your boss before the meeting is over. Though it may be the best option, the idea of it frightens you, as you know your boss is a hot-headed man who hates being corrected. You finally decide that you’re going to go through with it, no matter what your boss thinks, because that’s the right thing to do. You then correct your boss in a polite and corporate tone, careful to not sound rude or patronizing. Your boss glares at you, but then quickly continues with the next topic of the meeting. Sure, you might get some nasty looks from him every now and then, but overall no harm was done; you did the right thing and prevented a disaster at the company. This analogy is an example of the steps taken to spread the word no matter what the consequences may be without delay.

In conclusion, it is our duty to use the faith we have in God and the influence we have in the lives of others to spread his message and show how good the Holy Spirit is. By the time you’ve built up the courage to ask someone to church or to a bible study, it may be too late.