1 of 1

Alexa* paused, looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "What happened to you? Why are you suddenly so nice?"

I can't even remember what we were talking about during that lunchtime conversation. I didn't even realize I was being all that nice. I just thought I was being, well, me. But the thing was, only a couple of weeks before Alexa's remarks, I was a much different person. It was easy to be mean and sarcastic—especially to Alexa. It's not like she didn't have it coming. She often put me down and ripped me apart with her own words. "You're fat" was one of her favorite putdowns. My comeback? Something like, "Well, you're far from skinny, you hog." Back and forth the insults would fly. She was mean and I was mean back. But now Alexa sat there staring at me and asking, "Why are you so nice?"

I really didn't know what to say, so I just sat there, shrugged my shoulders and smiled at her. Thankfully, one of my friends from church offered an answer. "He's a born–again Christian now, Alexa," he said, "That's why he's so nice."

My friend was right. Two weeks earlier I had accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and my life had changed in a big way. I had suddenly become a "witness for Jesus," even if I didn't realize it. I was "salt and "light" (Matthew 5:13-16), even if I didn't know it.

That experience, which took place a year ago, was the first "lesson" I had in sharing the gospel. And I didn't say a thing and I didn't even know it was a lesson! Since then, I have worked hard to learn how to share my faith effectively. I've attended a weekend–long evangelism program and I have even joined my church's student evangelism team. I've gone to regular Sunday evening training sessions at my church, and I've practiced sharing my faith at the mall. I've also been trying to memorize Scripture so that I can, as the Bible says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15, NIV).

As I look back, I wish I had known how to really respond to Alexa. Even so, the important thing was this: She saw something different in me, and that difference was Jesus. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, NIRV: "Anyone who believes in Christ is a new creation. The old is gone! The new has come!"

A year ago Jesus changed me. I am a new person. While I still make mistakes and sin, I know that my life is very different from what it used to be. Before I knew Christ, I'd think nothing of calling someone stupid if they didn't know how to do some math problem I found easy. Now that I'm a Christian, my first response is simply to help them learn the problem—not put them down. I'm trying to replace my sarcasm and mean talk with words that are kind and encouraging and actions that are helpful and caring.

When it comes to sharing Christ, I hope I never forget the part my changed life plays in my witness. What I say doesn't really mean much if my words aren't backed up by what I think and how I act.

David Durfee is a high school junior and enjoys serving on his youth group's worship team, reading action and legal novels, and playing football. He's received evangelism training through Dare 2 Share, an organization dedicated to helping Christian students witness to their friends. To find out more about Dare 2 Share, go to dare2share.org.

*name has been changed

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.

 1 of 1

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.