Witnessing Christ Even When It Costs Us

When we receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we don’t just receive joy, peace, and strength… we also receive the courage to remain faithful to Jesus, even in hard times. Stephen is an extraordinary example of this.

Full of the Holy Spirit, he faces his accusers with patience and firmness. He doesn’t respond with anger, he doesn’t defend himself with violence, but speaks with wisdom and love. And even though in the end they kill him, he dies praying and forgiving, just like Jesus did.

The baptism in the Spirit doesn’t protect us from suffering, but it gives us the strength to face it with a heart full of God. Stephen wasn’t a superhero. He was an ordinary man, but full of the Holy Spirit, and that’s why he could endure hatred and violence with disarming peace.

We, too, are called to be witnesses. Not all of us will be called to give our lives like Stephen, but we are all called to live for Christ with courage, even when it costs us. Maybe people will make fun of you or say you’re “crazy” because you believe. But the Spirit will give you the strength to stand firm, without losing your joy and peace.

The baptism in the Spirit prepares us to testify of Jesus in every situation: at school, at work, in the family, among friends. And if one day it really does cost us something, even just a sacrifice or a tough choice, let’s remember we’re not alone. The Spirit is with us and will always give us the right words, the right heart, and the strength to love even those who hurt us.

May his presence be revealed in your life today.

God bless you, Pastor Carmelo Orlando