1 Thessalonians 2:2/ What Makes Us Bold

1 Thessalonians 2:2/ What Makes Us Bold

"But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 1 Thess. 2:2

The suffering and shameful treatment Paul refers to here is being beaten by a mob with sticks then thrown in prison without a trial. That would be enough for most of us to become timid. So, what made Paul bold enough to go straight from Philippi to Thessalonica with the Gospel?

Notice Paul says, "… we had boldness IN OUR GOD to declare to you the Gospel of God in the midst of much conflict." Paul's boldness was born out of belief in God. He was bold because He knew God could do the supernatural. This takes the variable out of the equation: Paul wasn't bold because he felt particularly good that day, or because he had the perfect gospel presentation memorized, or because of his ability to persuade, or because he was an apostle—none of these things are reliable enough. Paul was emboldened because God is trustworthy.

Paul was a person like we are people and we serve the same God as him. If we look to ourselves for boldness we may come up lacking because some days we are not up for the task, we mess up, we fumble the words, we get nervous, we feel bad, and so on. These are not reliable sources of boldness with the Gospel. But if we take our cues from Paul, who exhibited incredible boldness in the midst of much conflict, we will look to the same God he did for boldness.

Who in your life needs to hear the Gospel? Pray for boldness in your God to declare the Gospel! He's prepared to do the supernatural.

In Christ,

Pastor Kevin

If you want to dig deeper into this, need help, need prayer, or have questions—please reach out to us here: Roots Help & Prayer Form