Hi and welcome to this Monday edition of Our Daily Bread. I'm Kirsten Holmberg, and I'd like to share today's devotion with you that I titled The What in Sharing Our Faith.

Alan came to me for advice on how to deal with his fear of public speaking.

Like so many others, his heart would begin to race, his mouth would feel sticky and dry,

and his face would flush bright red.

Glossophobia is among the most common social fears people have.

Many even joke that they're more fearful of

public speaking than of dying. To help Alan conquer his fear of not performing well, I suggested

he focus on the substance of his message instead of how well he would deliver it. Shifting the focus

to what will be shared instead of one's ability to share it,

is similar to Paul's approach to pointing others to God.

When he wrote to the church at Corinth, he remarked that his message and preaching

were not with wise and persuasive words.

Instead, he determined to focus solely on the truth of Jesus Christ

and his crucifixion, trusting the Holy Spirit to empower his words, not his eloquence as a speaker.

When we've come to know God personally, we'll want to share about Him with those around us. Yet we

sometimes shy away from it because we're afraid of not presenting it well with the right or

eloquent words. By focusing instead on the what, the truth of who God is and his amazing

works, we can, like Paul, trust God to empower our words

and share without fear or reluctance.

Today's Our Daily Read Devotional Scripture reading is from 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 1 through 5.

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters.

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

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