Q:
My husband is a good man, but he doesn't want anything to do with the church or with God. I think his problem is that he grew up in a very strict religious home, and he's never gotten over his rebellion. How can I witness to him about Jesus, when he won't even talk about it?
A:
People reject God for all sorts of reasons — including psychological ones (which seems to be true of your husband). In such cases their real problem isn’t so much with God, but with something (or someone) in their background — although they may not even realize it.
The most important thing you can do is to pray for your husband. Pray that God will open his mind and heart so he will realize his need of Christ. Pray too that God will open his eyes to his pride, and to his need to humble himself before Christ. Often, I’ve found, a “good” person is harder to convince of their spiritual need than a brazen sinner — and only God can do it.
Then ask God to help you be a witness of Christ’s love and grace by your life. He may ignore what you say — but he can’t ignore the reality of Christ in your life. The Bible says that unbelieving husbands “may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives” (1 Peter 3:1-2).
Avoid arguing; that will only make things worse. At the same time, ask God to give you opportunities to speak naturally about Christ. Some day, for example, he might be talking about his overly-strict family — and this could give you an opportunity to point him to God’s mercy and love and forgiveness.