Witnessing to friends and family is something many people shy away from. Since these are ongoing relationships, many are rightly concerned about damaging them. Maybe you have already tried to witness but it ended poorly. Feelings might have been hurt; sharp words might have been spoken; emotions might have been laid bare. If this has happened to you, you probably are even more hesitant to get into another spiritual conversation.

But you can! Many have done so even after some bad experiences. They realized they didn’t handle the situation correctly. They took the important step of acknowledging this to their LDS friend or family member. They strived not to become angry but instead to listen carefully and respond lovingly. And the Lord blessed them with productive conversations and yes, some with loved ones who now are Christian.

Obviously, the closer the relationship the higher the risk. There is little comparison between witnessing to a neighbor down the street who you see occasionally and witnessing to your spouse. Witnessing to your spouse entails so much more risk.

Telling others about what he has done, however, is something Jesus commands us to do – for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it demonstrates that we love God above all else. Jesus made this point quite strongly when he said:

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”

Matthew 10:37

Those are sobering words.

Secondly, our friends and family members need to know Jesus as their Savior! Without faith in his saving work, they will not go to heaven; regardless of how nice they are or how much we love them. Jesus said:

“No one comes to the Father except through me”

John 14:6

We must be clear on this and brutally honest with ourselves. People frequently comfort themselves by saying their loved one believes in God and/or Jesus. But saving faith is very specific. It’s trusting that Jesus did everything to save us. It’s not believing God exists or that Jesus was a good man and a great teacher. It’s not even believing he did most of the work and we must add a little bit. It’s trusting Jesus did it all. Period. We must be convinced that adding anything to Jesus’ perfect work makes it imperfect and ruins it. Paul wrote:

“And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace”

Romans 11:6

Thirdly, Jesus wants us to do this not only out of love for God and for the other person, but also for our own good. Talking about Jesus strengthens our relationship with him and our faith in him. The more we witness, the more we are driven back to Scripture. The more we talk about God’s great love, the more we treasure it. One of the best ways to grow in the faith is to share the faith.

This doesn’t mean that your witnessing won’t create friction in these relationships. Jesus also said:

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household”

Matthew 10:34-36

This possibility, however, does not offset the points previously mentioned.

It’s not inevitable, however, that the relationship will be damaged. Over the years, we have devised practical ideas which have helped many people avoid damaging their relationships while still clearly sharing God’s truth. Many of these ideas are aimed at avoiding erecting unnecessary obstacles. According to the Bible, the one unavoidable obstacle is the gospel – the message of eternal life based entirely on Christ’s work for us.  Paul called it:

“a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles”

1 Corinthians 1:23

Our goal is to always remove unnecessary obstacles so people are confronted with the gospel.

Not only have many avoided damaging their relationships, many have seen their relationships deepen. And because God’s Word is so powerful, some have seen their unbelieving friend or family member brought to faith!

There is no denying that talking about Jesus with family and friends can be difficult. But it’s well worth it! May the Lord richly bless you as you speak the truth with love to your family and friends.