you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me
—Acts 1:8

You may have heard how believers are “motivated” by fear to tell others about Jesus without being shy and to bring more people to church. Jesus’ words are often used for this: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels” [Luk.9:26]. In fact, the fear of being rejected by Jesus does not “cure” shyness. People are shy because they are afraid. But before we deal with shyness, let’s look at what Jesus was talking about in Luke 9:26.

In Mark 8:38 the Lord explains: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation…” So what is this adulterous and sinful generation? Jesus also calls this generation “faithless and perverse” [Mat.17:17]. The sinful generation is the faithless one, which does not believe in Him, and the adulterous or perverse one is the generation that tries to be justified by the law [Gal.2:18]. In other words, Jesus is saying: “Whoever rejects Me and does not believe in Me, but keeps trying to be justified by the law, to him I will say on that day: ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!‘” [Mat.7:23].

“Then what about those who are shy about talking of Jesus?” As I have already said, people are ashamed or shy because they are afraid, and as it is written: “he who fears has not been made perfect in love” [1 Jhn.4:18]. In other words, those who are shy do not actually know how much God loves them, for “perfect [Christ’s] love casts out fear” [1 Jhn.4:18]. It is God’s love that gives us wings and makes us bold. David went out boldly against Goliath and bore witness to the power of God, because his name means “beloved”. Jesus overcame the enemy’s temptations because He received from the Father the testimony: “This is My beloved Son.”

As for the need to witness and tell people about Jesus, Jesus said: “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” [Act.1:8] Jesus did not say: “When you receive the Spirit, you will testify.” He said: “you shall be witnesses to Me”. It is one thing to be a witness, and another to try to testify. No, my friends, testifying is not our business; it is the Holy Spirit’s. Jesus also told His disciples: “for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” [Mat.10:20]. Jesus is the faithful and true Witness, and only He knows what to say and to whom, at the right time and in the right place. We rest in His Son, and the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus. “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” [Jhn.15:26].