Have you ever felt the tug of wanting to share your faith with someone, and then you didn't?

Maybe you've known a friend for some time, prayed for him, and yet the time "never seemed right" to share Christ with that friend?

What about that passenger in the seat next to you who opens up her life, but you don't fully give her the answer you've found?

And then one of the most difficult of all, that family member who needs God desperately, and yet you just can't bring yourself to tell him how to find the Lord.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you, then you aren't alone. I certainly have experienced most of them at different times, and I know that many other people who are serious about their faith have too. For many people, personal evangelism is one of the most difficult things about the walk of faith. People want to share but don't. What gets in the way?

Since the United States and Canada aren't dictatorships where a person would be imprisoned (or worse) for telling others about Christ, there must be other reasons for falling short. When we think about it, there are very few "external" reasons in our lives today. You won't be jailed. You probably won't get fired. If you are wise about how you share, you most likely won't lose the friendship.

Then what are the reasons for silence? Why do many of us become tongue-tied about the greatest thing we could possibly talk about? Why do we hold on to the best gift we could ever give someone? It's not as if something bad will happen to them!

Think of what you are offering people when you share:

• Salvation from eternal separation from God

• Complete forgiveness and the answer to all guilt

• A Companion for the rest of their lives

• A Father who will take care of them forever

• A God who will give them purpose, and the gifts, resources and abilities to carry out His purpose

• A never-ending source of love and healing

• Someone Who will make their life come together

• And about a million other good things

How in the world could we possibly neglect to give others the chance to know Christ and the wonderful riches that He offers?

Certainly different people have different reasons. Some are just selfish and too tied up in their own lives to think of anyone but themselves (Matthew 13:22). Some don't even have an active enough faith in other areas to be counted among the living (James 2:17). Some are still in the early stages of faith and trying to get stable. They are infants, not ready yet to take bigger steps of faith (Hebrews 5:12-14). These are challenges, and if you find yourself in one of these categories, find someone who can help you grow deeper in your relationship with God.

But, for many who are not babies, not self-centered, nor dead in their faith, there is still a lack of sharing. And more often than not, the lack of personal evangelism is a result of some sort of fear. In this article, we'll look at overcoming some of the most basic fears that keep us silent about the greatest gift of all, and we'll explore emotional aids and the small steps of faith necessary to overcome those fears.

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Henry Cloud, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and co-author of the Gold Medallion Award winning book Boundaries, among others. A frequent guest on such broadcasts as Focus on the Family, Cloud co-founded the Minirth-Meier Clinic West. He lives in Newport Beach, California, where he has been in private practice for 17 years.