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Question

How do I speak of Christ and the gospel without sounding trite? I find that I often have a difficult time putting into words the reasons that I live life as I do. "Because of my love for the Lord" often seems like a trite explanation, but I don't know how to break the heart of the cross down into a few sentences.

Answer

Your desire to express yourself and your love for God more effectively (non-trite) is an excellent desire.  It will come for all of us as we think more deeply about these things.  Here are my thoughts:

1.  When scripture comes alive to us it has this revelatory quality.  We see it!  This quickens our spirits.  Our communication that comes from this experience is more effective.  So, meditation and deeper thinking about scripture and the things of God is helpful.

2.  Sometime we make the mistake of thinking that spontaneity is the ultimate in love or worship.  It is of value, but sometimes preparation and forethought and planning express a depth of love that goes beyond the spontaneous.  If I take the time to write my wife a love letter and I work on the language and search for the words to express my love for her, then the result is depth, not superficiality.  The application here is that we should work to find new words and phrases and word-pictures to express God's love for us and our response love to him.  If it is directed toward him and employed in sincere worship, then it will not come off as sounding canned.