Living Stories of Grace: Sharing Your Testimony
May 16, 2024 | by: John Lee | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
Stories are powerful. We are drawn to and shaped by them. We are surrounded by them. We love to listen to them and many of us love to share them. What was the last story that deeply impacted you? Maybe it was a recent movie you watched. Maybe it was that new song your favorite artist just released. Maybe it was a dear family member or friend sharing what has been going on in life. Stories are powerfully impactful.
I was reminded of this reality during this last month on the bike trail near where I live. I had a moment to connect with a stranger while on my bike ride. It all started after coming to stop, an opening question she asked about the weather, and eventually led to sharing the stories of our lives. She began with sharing her life story with me. She shared some of the hardships and joys she had experienced and currently experiencing. When she finished sharing, she turned to me and asked something along the lines of, “now, what’s your story?” If you were asked this today, where would you begin? What would you share? What moments would you highlight as the most significant?
As I began to share parts of my life story with this new friend, I quickly came to realize again how my life has a single thread holding it all together (Acts 17:28). With everything I shared, my life was tracing the grace that God has shown to me and my family. I got to share my testimony of how God saved me in high school and the circumstances that surrounded that time. I got to share about how God had saved my family just a generation before me. I got to share about how the good news of Christ radically changed my heart and how eventually the Lord led me into pastoral ministry which brought me to the foreign Midwest land of Kansas City. Long story short, as the Lord opened an opportunity for me to share my life story with this new friend, I found an even greater opportunity to share briefly the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel’s impact in my life. You see, our testimonies are significant – not because we’re so great, but because Jesus is great.
So, if given the opportunity, how would you share your testimony or your story of His grace? Who or what would be central to your story? During my time in Seminary, we had to take a required evangelism course. My professor at the time had us do a very practical assignment to write out our testimony, memorize it, and share it. We did just that and at the end of this assignment we all grew in our own depth of the gospel through one another and our depth of our love for one another grew. My professor, referencing Will Metzger’s Telling the Truth, gave us 4 points to consider in our testimonies. I pray that these would be helpful as you think upon and share the astonishing grace of God through the context of your life with those God has brought into your life. Many of us may be unable to point to a radical conversion, but this does not mean your testimony is less meaningful or significant. All testimonies uniquely point to the miracle that salvation is: being born again by grace through faith in Christ Jesus (John 3:3). With each of the four sections, I’ve left a few example phrases that may be helpful starting points.
- What I Was Like:
My family, friends, interests were…
My security (most important value) was…
My religious background and attitude toward God was…
- What God Used to Begin to Open My Eyes:
I was awakened to my need by (people, books, meeting, circumstances, etc.)…
What I thought and/or noticed (about myself, God, others) at this point was…
- What It Was I Saw/Understood:
Those aspects of the gospel that touched me were…
I came to understand that Christ…
I saw my need was…
- How Christ Has/Is Affecting My Life:
My relationships with…
My attitude toward…
My desires now are…
I’m now doing…
A difficult area still is…
Getting to share briefly our life stories with others can be great doorways to greater and deeper spiritual conversations. You see, in sharing your testimony it is so much more than how the gospel fits into your life story, but it is also about how you ultimately fit in God’s grand redemptive story. As you think through your testimony, take time to praise God for his glorious grace in your life (Eph. 1:6). As you share your testimony with the body of Christ, may the Lord use your story to encourage our brothers and sisters in the faith. As you share your testimony with those who don’t know Christ, may God use your story to stir spiritual interest and point them toward Christ. Once again, your testimony is significant because it points directly and uniquely to the reality of God’s saving grace through Christ. The Lord has been behind every moment and detail of your life and He is presently working in you now. What a joy it is to tell others of the hope we have in God’s wonderful work of redemption.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor John Lee
