Have You Stopped Sharing Your Testimony?
As a Christian, I’m sure you probably heard how important your testimony is. I think I heard it from the moment of my salvation. And I understand why. A testimony shares how God has been working in you and through you for His Kingdom. There isn’t a lot more powerful than that.
At first I believed them and obeyed. Then my thinking changed.
Have you had a similar experience? What are your thoughts on sharing Christian testimonies? Do you think they are beneficial? Commanded by God? Too much emphasis placed on them? Why do so many testimonies seem to bring the person glory, not God? Are they even biblical? What makes them powerful and not just entertaining stories?
For a while now, God has been dealing with me about my reluctance to share my testimony. As a baby Christian, I actually shared a few times before deciding it wasn't for me. In fact, the following verse became my justification:
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
This verse is used a lot in the context of encouraging someone onward with their faith. But couldn't it also mean we should forget everything about our past while diligently seeking what God has ahead for us? Isn't the past dead and gone and of no use to us now?
No? I don't think so any longer, but that was the way I chose to interpret that verse for about 25 years.
In this post, I want to share how my misguided thinking set me on a path that wasn't God's desire for me. As embarrassing as it is to put my mistake out there, I believe sharing this part of my testimony can help you take a closer look at your own life's story in a way you might not have considered before.
What Happened To The Power?
As I said, as a baby Christian, there were a few times I publicly shared my story.
Not long after our salvation, my husband and I were asked to share our testimony in front of our church. Because of the short time frame, the best we could do was skim our short story with catchphrases and end with an exclamation point of God's goodness. I don’t think the disjointed highlights of our testimony pierced the heart of anyone listening. I know it left me disappointed instead of joyful.
After building up my courage again, I shared my testimony with a group of sisters. When they showed zero emotion and just stared blankly back at me, I quickly retreated, cracked a silly joke, and slammed the door on such crazy talk. If the Holy Spirit was a part of that moment of sharing, wouldn’t my friends have felt something stirring in their spirits?
Where My Theology Came From
From the start of our walk with Christ Jesus, testimonies of God's unique work in the lives of believers were fairly common. After sharing our testimony with our church, I read accounts of Jesus healing people in the Bible and then telling them to go about their lives telling no one what He had done. I was pretty confused, but I trusted the Holy Spirit to reveal understanding in His perfect timing.
And I thought that He had because one day in my quiet time I read Philippians13:13-14. That verse made me stop and take notice! My Pastor had been teaching about the ways God confirms what He has revealed. Putting two and two together, I came up with five.
I just knew that God was confirming that each of us had a purpose and sharing my testimony just wasn't my purpose. I reasoned that If I went ahead and shared anyway, it would be outside of God's will making my testimony without power, self-serving, and prideful.
I decided God was using Philippians 13 to show me that instead of sharing the past, I needed to keep my focus on what He had ahead for me. I have to admit it felt wrong. My story was full of miracles and mighty blessings that I wanted to shout from the rooftops. But I wanted to be obedient even more.
The Spirit of Truth Sheds Light Into My Darkness
A few years went by. We had a new Pastor share the idea of an elevator testimony. In my mind, I can still hear him encourage the congregation to have our testimony ready so that we are prepared to share at every opportunity. If there wasn't an opportunity, we were to make an opportunity. I was conflicted. I was sure I had confirmation from God that my story didn't matter.
Eventually, things happened and I began to question everything I had learned about God, theology, and the church. In fact, the questions I asked at the beginning of this post were questions I had written in my journal way back when. Once again they became significant in my thoughts as I began to revisit the idea of sharing my testimony.
Due to my many questions, Holy Spirit prodded me to start a deep-dive study about Christian testimonies. My main goal was to gain clarity so the guilt and condemning thoughts would stop.
I began to study the Psalms. Right in the middle of my study, the Holy Spirit revealed that I had stopped sharing my story, not because I was being obedient, but because I didn't want to face my past. I wanted to forget the hard times when I felt so hopeless, lost, and alone.
He went on to reveal that due to my true motives, I read Scripture to make it say what I wanted it to say; not for what it really said. My perspective was off. Friend, that revelation was shocking to me but the truth resonated in my spirit! We might think we know ourselves, but when the Spirit of Truth speaks, there is no hiding behind excuses! He won't accept nor tolerate them.
I Will Declare
The Psalms are such a blessing. Without fail, they remind us that God is holy, good, and gracious. But I didn't realize they also contained encouragement to share our testimony of God's mighty work in our lives.
Psalm 66 speaks of remembering God's awesome deeds, praising Him for them, and sharing His goodness with others. My favorite verse is verse 16: "Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.” (Psalm 66:16)
Psalm 96 is pretty powerful. It made me wonder if God hears our testimony as a melody of a song. "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name, proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples." (Psalm 96:1-3).
Then there is Psalm 107. This Psalm encourages everyone who has been touched by God to speak up and declare it. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so; those He redeemed from the hand of the enemy, those He gathered from the lands; from east and west, from north and south." (Psalm 107:2-3)
Aren't those beautiful? But let's not forget the many miracles Jesus performed. He didn't always tell those he healed to be quiet about their healing.
In Mark 5, Jesus cast a legion of demons from a man into a herd of pigs. The man who had been demon-possessed begged to continue on with Jesus. But Jesus did not allow it. Instead, Jesus said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. After hearing his story, "all the people were amazed." Now, this man didn't just share his testimony with his family or even his community. He shared it with his region and "all the people were amazed!" Now THAT is a powerful testimony!
When the apostles were arrested and put in jail, the Lord sent an angel to open the jail doors. Then He said to them, "Go, stand in the temple courts, and tell the people the full message of this new life." (Acts 5:17-20)
Let's not forget my testimony life verse; Philippians 3:13-14. I began to study this verse in context. Imagine my surprise to discover it didn't mean what I thought it meant! God wants us to remember where we were and the spiritually dark places He brought us out of. He wants us to share our journey. It's okay that people know where we were but they need to hear how far God has brought us too.
The Star Of The Story
After my study, I came to realize just how important our testimonies are to God. I know that as fact because the Bible is full of them! So the Bible is where we should start when we need encouragement and a renewal of hope.
The purpose of sharing our testimony is deeper than just sharing how God has blessed us. They aren't only important because of what God does in and through me. Our story goes beyond that.
First of all, they bring God glory by pointing to the fact that nothing we accomplish, no matter how carefully we plan, prepare, and strive to make something happen, is possible without God's direct involvement in our lives. He is the star of our story. We are not.
Secondly, we can learn from the examples of others. There are a ton of testimonies in the Bible and every soul saved has a testimony worth sharing! Every testimonial story allows us to peek into another's life and see how their decisions and choices played out. What God thought of their behavior, and how He dealt with them. This encourages and helps build our faith while correcting our wrong thinking and training us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
So we can learn from the example of others or we can learn God's lessons the hard way. God allows us to make the choice.
God Uses Everything
Sharing your testimony is a powerful way to show the love and faithfulness of God in our lives. Sadly, I was misguided for years about it. Even though I had fallen in love with studying Scripture and had grown significantly in my love and knowledge, I was still deceived in this area.
Isn't it remarkable how Satan meets us right where we are to manipulate Scripture and our thinking into believing something that's not true?
I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit has brought this subject to my attention and helped me work through it. The thought of sharing my testimony still makes me sweat and squirm. It probably always will. But I'm also grateful that God gave me the courage to share my misguided journey with you.
If you have not been sharing your testimony of God's transforming power in your life, I pray you will ask Jesus to shine his light brightly into your soul and reveal the true reason for your hesitation. And then I pray you will trust Him with the answer and the steps He encourages you to take to adjust your perspective.
