Wednesday, April 26, 2023 Some information taken from More Than A Story Part 3
This Is My Testimony…
We have been focusing on sharing Christ with Who’s Your One. As a church, we prayed for 36 days for that one person in each of our lives that we felt like needed to know Christ. As a follow-up after Easter, we have focused on what more we could do to share Christ with our One. An essential part of sharing Christ with someone is sharing our testimony. This past Sunday, we learned three aspects of our testimony to focus on when sharing with someone.
Your Life Before Jesus – This is a very important element of our testimony because it may be the part that our one can most identify with. When they know that we were lost and very different before we came to know Jesus, they may feel more comfortable. There are things in all our pasts that others do not know about us and may find hard to believe. It may be embarrassing to you, but it is good for those you are sharing with to see the difference Jesus Christ has made in your life.
How You Encountered Jesus – How did you come to ask Jesus to be your Savior? Where were you? How old were you? What were the circumstances? What did you hear? What was it that brought you from death to life? Were you at church? Were you with a friend? Were you at camp? What do you remember about that day?
Your Life Since Jesus Made You New – How is your life different since Jesus saved you? God has saved us from the curse of sin and brokenness in order that we might live for His glory. We are to be changed people who lived changed lives. Our changed lives can help change other people’s lives. We were created for that purpose.
What if, the new life we have in Christ was shared with our One? God will use your testimony to impact those around you if you’re faithful to speak up. How He has changed you can change someone else. Part of living changed lives is being ready to speak up and share our testimony. Have you written your testimony down?
The first time I encountered Jesus I was six years old and there was a revival going on at our church. I knew I wanted to ask Jesus to be my Savior and I did. I was not baptized at the time and do not remember anyone really talking with me to make sure I understood what I was doing. Later, when I was around 20 years old, I “rededicated my life,” and was baptized. I lived as a Christian, did all the right things, and did have a relationship with the Lord. But only in the last several years, and particularly in the last year, have I had a very deep and life changing experience with Jesus. It didn’t make a big difference in my life on the outside, as far as others could see, but it did in my heart. The world around me could not see an extreme difference in my lifestyle, but there was a huge change in my heart. That may be you too – you may have been in church your whole life, saved at a young age, never experienced a season of rebellion. You were an all-around “good Christian boy or girl.” There is nothing wrong with that. Just because you were not addicted to drugs or in prison, that does not mean that God did not transform you. Your testimony – any testimony – is about how God changes you. Your testimony is just as real and important to the Kingdom of God as anyone else’s.
Take some time to write your testimony down – and then share it. Share it with family and friends first for practice, as many times as you need to so it will be natural and comfortable when God provides the opportunity. Then pray. Keep praying for your One and the opportunity to share. Be aware of other opportunities that God brings into your life. We need to always be ready to share our testimony anytime the opportunity arises.
