Standing Up For What We Believe In

 We learn from the teachings of Paul in the book of Romans that we should stand up for what we believe in. He tells us to not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed of the gospel, but I have always been a rather quiet and reserved person, so it isn't always easy for me to stand up for or push my beliefs on others. However, there was one time many years ago where I just couldn't keep quiet. I had to say what was on my mind.

The incident took place at a Dodger baseball game. Cheryl was having a birthday and for her party she wanted to take a handful of friends to a Dodger game. Cheryl loved playing softball at our local little league. Knowing how much she liked the game, I gave in to her desire go, so one Saturday afternoon we found ourselves in the stands at Dodger stadium enjoying baseball. It was just me, Cheryl, and a few of her friends in our group. 

As the game went on, I kept hearing a lot of cussing from the guys sitting behind us. They were big, burly, beer-drinking guys, who kind of intimidated me. Many people are not offended by cussing, especially if they are raised around it. However, I was raised in a family where we don't talk like that. I don't like hearing cuss words (they burn my ears and offend my spirit) and I didn't want the innocent little pre-teen girls listening to it either, so I turned around and asked the guys if they would mind not using cuss words around us. I didn't wait for a response. I turned back around and continued watching the game, but later noticed that the cussing had stopped. We had to leave before the game ended. As we got up to leave, I thanked the guys for not cussing. As I did so, one guy spoke up and said "I did something good today, didn't I?" I LOVED that response. Instead of cussing at me and berating me for making that request, he actually was good about it and felt proud of himself that he hadn't cussed for that period of time.

Sometimes we think that speaking up will not go well. I worried about that, too, but in this instance, things turned out quite well. I'm so glad that I spoke up. It made for a much more pleasant experience for me, Cheryl, and her friends at the baseball game, plus I realized that sometimes it's good to speak up and let our wishes be known. I was definitely not ashamed of the gospel that day!