Acts 26: Permission to Speak

In Acts 26, Paul is given the opportunity to defend himself before King Agrippa. The chapter begins with, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”

Most read on, missing the significance of these words. Paul had endured patiently, was not mean-spirited, and patiently waited for the opportunity to speak at the appropriate time.

Paul could have ranted about his religious liberties, his authority as an apostle, or some other issue, but he didn’t. Instead, he prayed and prepared to address his audience at the appropriate time.

His example speaks volumes even today.

Many of us find ourselves either unwilling to speak at all or take the other extreme and speak all the time, killing off opportunities to speak when it is most helpful to communicating our faith. God has called us to share the message of Christ. His Word also provides examples of how we can communicate it more effectively.

Let us be patient, pray, and share the reason for the hope within us with the best words at the most fitting times. God controls the results, but can know we are following the footsteps of Paul, a man who changed many lives with the message of Christ, when we seek to speak when we have “permission to speak.”

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Dillon Burroughs is the author or co-author of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of the New Testament in 2011 at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.