1. We don’t really believe it.

If you thought the good news may not be true, you wouldn’t tell others, right? You’d wait until you’d taken two, or maybe even three, pregnancy tests before you went telling all your friends that you’re pregnant or posting about it on Facebook. You may even wait until you’re 12 or 20 weeks along before you tell anybody, so you don’t have to explain if you don’t deliver a healthy baby within the year. We like to be really sure before we tell others our good news.

2. We don’t really think the news is all that great.

Who cares that your daughter got a scholarship – it’s only a local community college. So what that your kid made the varsity team – it’s just high school football. If you think your good news isn’t really all that amazing, you may not be compelled to tell some else, except maybe your husband, your mom and your very best friend.

3. Our friends and family won’t be happy or supportive.

Maybe you’re super excited about a new job your husband got on the other side of the world, but your family may not be so happy, right? If the hearer isn’t going to be overjoyed about our good news, then we may not want to tell them about it.

4. We may be ashamed to tell other people, either because it feels like bragging, or because they may disagree with you.

If your son scored a perfect score on the ACT, you may be embarrassed to tell anyone for fear they’ll call you boastful. Or if your 18-year-old is getting married straight out high school, you may be embarrassed to tell everybody, because you’re worried about people’s negative comments.

5. We may not feel like we have the right words to express our good news.

In a generation of Pinterest, YouTube, Amazon, Facebook and Google, we can feel inadequate in how we communicate our good news. Our baby announcement or gender reveal may not be as well done as our friend’s, so we just don’t do it at all!

Just like these stumbling blocks to sharing our every life good news, these same five things can stand in the way of you sharing the good news about our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Try asking yourself these questions:

1. Do I really believe in the good news of Jesus, the Savior?

2. Do I recognize the incredible, unmerited blessing of this gift?

3. Am I letting someone else’s lack of excitement stand in the way of sharing?

4. Am I letting fear of someone else’s reaction prevent me from sharing this hope with my community and loved ones?

5. Am I prepared to share this good news any time, any where, with humility rather than waiting until I have all the right words prepared?