Many people have heard a person give their testimony about how he or she became a Christian - you may have already done this yourself. Perhaps you've only watched others as they have gotten up in front of a large group at church, or at youth group, or during a summer camp and talk about the problems in their lives, how they came to Christ, and how God has changed them since that time. Maybe you thought "That was great, but I could never do that," or perhaps you've wished that you had a "cool testimony" like them. Whether you are scared to tell your story, wish you had a better story to tell, or just can't wait for the next opportunity to share your story with other people, it is important to remember:
Your testimony is about God, not you.
As humans, one of our biggest obstacles is pride. We think too much of ourselves and our own situations while failing to recognize God's greatness. God is so vast, so holy, and so preeminent that it is more important for Him to receive praise and glory than it is for us to remain alive. In Luke 19:40, Jesus tells the Pharisees that if His people remain silent, then the rocks will cry out. His statement is consistent with the Psalms, especially Psalm 148, which paint a picture of all of creation praising God, not just humanity. When we start to realize just how BIG God is, we find that we are not as important as we thought we are. We are, in fact, very replaceable.
Yet, the very reason for our existence is to bring glory to God (Psalm 86:9; Isaiah 60:21; Romans 11:36; I Corinthians 6:20; 10:31; Revelation 4:11). We must not forget that we are created in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27)! This does not mean that God looks like a human, but it means that everything about our lives is supposed to say something about who God is. We do things like get married and care for each other because God is love. We have babies because God is the author of life. We build things and produce art because God is creative. We use concepts of organization and logic because God is a God of order. We laugh and celebrate because God does these things, too. The variety of human relationships all speak to God’s relational nature. We were all designed to be walking, breathing testimonies – declaring the greatness of God and giving Him glory through every aspect of our lives.
However, when we refuse to glorify God with our lives, we sin against the One who made us and violate the created order. In the end, EVERYONE testifies about God. We can't help it. We're doing it constantly and are unable to stop. That's how we were made. The problem is that we usually testify about God poorly. Even those who are too afraid to tell others what God is doing in their life are testifying. They are saying that it is better for them to remain comfortable than for God to be praised through what He has done in their life. The people who are jealous of the "cool testimonies" are saying that God is not at work in their lives or, at least, God is not doing anything important or noteworthy in their lives. And many people are too eager to give their testimonies because they simply crave the attention. Their testimonies become a story about how wonderful their lives are and not how amazing God is.
Everyone testifies about God everyday with their life. Are you lying or telling the truth about God by the way you live?
Giving your testimony is more than simply telling your life story to a group of people. It involves the decisions you make every day, the words you use, your attitude, and especially the way you behave (even when you think you're by yourself). But when we do have the opportunity to tell someone the story about how God saved us we need to be ready to do it the right way. The story isn't about how great your life is now that you've made God a part of it. The story isn't about how you tried Christianity and it’s working for you. The story is about God. It’s about His grace and His power to save, power so great that it saved even you. The story is about how God cleaned up a mess. Christians, we were the mess and what a horrific mess we were. We can’t tell the truth about what God has done in our lives without talking about our sin. And if we’re going to be honest about our sin, we can’t describe it in weak terms that protect our self-image. When we use vague phrases like “I made some mistakes,” “I was mixed up with the wrong people,” “I was doing things I shouldn't be doing,” or “I was looking for love in the wrong places,” we hide the truth. Testimonies like that, basically say all God did was straighten us out a bit. The truth is that we were rebellious God-haters. We knew God, but we ran from Him because we wanted to live for ourselves rather than Him. We knew His law, but we broke it because we loved sin and we were addicted to it. But because God’s love is so vast and so beyond understanding, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sin. He took the punishment we deserved, the wrath of God, upon Himself so that wretches like us could be declared righteous and blameless. But that's not all. Jesus also rose again from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power and victory over the grave. So we do not have to fear death. Because of His resurrection we now live in the hope of having eternal life with God. The Holy Spirit has revealed the truth of this Gospel to us and has led us to believe in it with our whole hearts and He has produced the fruit of repentance in us so that we can now turn from the sin we once loved and cling to the finished work of Jesus Christ. So whatever spiritual maturity we may see in one another now, whatever shred of humility, anything that looks like Christ, we give all glory to God and recognize it’s only possible because Jesus died for us, He rose again, ascended to the right hand of God the Father, and sent His Spirit to dwell within us. That is the story that we need to tell and that is the story we need to be faithfully living as we seek to be salt and light in a dark world (Matthew 5:13-16).
