If you ask a typical Christian what they need to do in order to grow in their faith the usual answer is,
"Study your Bible, pray, and go to Church."
That answer doesn't satisfy me at all! I have seen too many Bible reading, prayer saying, Church going Christians who year after year increase their Bible knowledge while their faith remains stagnant in a swamp of apathy and indifference to the lost world around them.

In order for your faith to grow it must have all the elements necessary for growth. Unfortunately, too often our efforts to grow our faith take a consumerist approach. We look for the right book, the right preacher, the right method of Bible study, or the right church, anything that can finally give us that spiritual break-through. Yet, if spiritual growth came by just listening to good sermons and studying your Bible our churches would look a lot different today.

So what element of growth is missing in the lives of many Christians? Simply put, they don't share their faith!

Faith unshared is a faith untested
Faith unseen is a faith unreal
Faith unheard is a faith unbelievable

What I said above about Bible reading, prayer, and going to Church in no way means that those are not vital elements to our faith, they are! Nevertheless, they are not enough.

If you want to strengthen your muscles you know that you must eat healthy, drink lots of water, and get your rest. You also know that if that's all you do, your muscles will never get any stronger! The missing element is exercise. Your muscles must be put under stress, they must do hard work, they must be pulled and pushed and brought to exhaustion.

Faith, like a muscle, needs exercise for growth. One of the best ways we can exercise our faith is by sharing it with others and I'm convinced that it is the lack of this type of exercise that so often leads to spiritual stagnation in the lives of many believers.

Here are a few ways sharing your faith, strengthens your faith.
1. To share your faith you must know your faith
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. 1Pe 3:15
Yes, Bible study is important and one of the reason it's important is because it gives you knowledge that you need to share your faith. Many unbelievers have asked me questions over the years that I couldn't answer immediately, so I went home and studied up on it and gave them an answer later.

Knowing that tomorrow or next week I'll have the opportunity to share the gospel with a particular person drives me to God's Word so that I can answer their questions about Jesus, about God, about sin, about life and death from the Bible.
2. When you share your faith you will encounter difficulties that will strengthen your faith
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Phil 1:12-13)
If you don't want to rock the boat, if your more interested in living an uneventful life, or if your main goal is to avoid all uncomfortable situations, then by all mean never ever share the gospel!

However, if you believe so deeply in the message of Jesus Christ and if your hope in Jesus is so profound that you want others to have it too, then you must share the gospel.  Soon you will encounter difficulties, resistance, and possibly persecution. It is precisely these difficulties that God can use to strengthen your faith.
3. To share your faith you must trust in the power of God