Perhaps you have heard the words “Preach the gospel and if necessary, use words”. The idea of living out your Christian faith in such a way that people will know that you are a believer just by your actions. The sentiment behind these words come from a well meaning place. We don’t want to be shoving the Bible in peoples faces all the time as to turn them away. Our actions, however, are not sufficient to communicate the message of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to use our words to tell people the good news. Sometimes it may be difficult to share Christ’s love with others. One of the ways we can do this is by sharing our own story of how God has worked in our lives – our personal testimony. A non-believer will be far more likely to listen to your personal experience than sit through a 30 min sermon.
Over the years I have been asked occasionally how I came to know the Lord. On some occasions I have had to tell someone one-on-one, but at other times I have had to share my testimony with a larger group of people. It doesn’t matter whether I am telling one person or many, I still get a little nervous. I have no idea why. I guess it’s because I feel worried that people will judge what I am saying as if it is some sort of test that I need to answer this question correctly or else I won’t pass the test. But my personal testimony is exactly that: my personal testimony. No two testimonies will be the same. Everybody has a different journey that God took them on to lead them to a place where they believed. There is no right or wrong testimony. But there definitely is a more effective way of sharing our testimonies that will either lead others to Christ or will encourage others in their walk. So it is important for us to spend time preparing our testimonies.
“What has preparing your personal testimony got to do with Children’s Ministry?” – You may ask. The answer is two-fold. First, it is important for us to prepare our testimony so that we can be able to share our story with the children in our classes. And second, is because we can use the tools that we have learnt to help them to prepare their own personal testimonies one day. In this blog I’m going to give you some helpful tips that you can keep in mind when preparing your testimony.
- Begin by praying to God to ask Him to help you as you start this journey. Sometimes your testimony may be very emotional and it may be difficult to relive and to find the right words to say. So pray about this.
- Give yourself sufficient time to prepare. You may think that preparing your testimony should only take you one sitting. As I said earlier, it can be an emotional journey and may take longer than you anticipate. This doesn’t mean that you are doing anything wrong. Give yourself that time. There is no rush.
- The first time you prepare your testimony it is a good idea to write it down. That way you will be able to know exactly what you want to add into your testimony and what you want to leave out.
- You want to make sure to keep your testimony concise. It is important not to tell your whole life story. You just want to give enough detail to arouse interest. You don’t want to, however, give too much detail so that people lose interest. A good length of time is about 3 minutes long. This will leave room for questions and discussion afterwards.
- Put in all the key events. There will always be more that we can add to our testimonies, but there are three main things that your testimony will be comprised of. First, what your life was like before Christ. Next, the point when you became a believer. Even if you grew up in a Christian home and don’t remember a specific date and time, make sure that your audience knows that you made a decision to follow Christ. Lastly, what your life has been like after you put your trust in Christ. Something to keep in mind is the fact that we often want to give details of our lives before we come to know the Lord. To highlight how bad and sinful and far from God we were. Yet we need to make sure that we emphasise how our lives have changed now that we know the Lord.
- Share stories that will help others relate. You may change the stories you share depending on the audience that you are with.
- Make the story of your conversion so clear that another person hearing it will know how to receive Christ.
- At the end of your testimony you may want to make a call for a decision of their own, if appropriate.
- Try to avoid using Christian jargon – words like: saved, convicted, converted. This is particularly important if you are sharing your testimony with someone who is not a believer. Many non-christians do not know, or misunderstand, what those words mean.
- Something else that you must avoid doing is giving the impression that the Christian life is easy. But emphasise that you now have hope.
- You may want to add in a Bible verse or two. But this is a personal choice.
- Practice saying it to yourself in the mirror or in front of a close friend or family member. This will help you to become more confident in what you are saying. Remember to speak loud and clearly enough for everyone to hear. You may want to time yourself so you can see how long it takes you to say everything that you have prepared. You may then decide to go back and rework your testimony a few times to refine it and keep it concise.
- Pray for opportunities to share your testimony with others. Have a few people in mind.
- Pray before you share your testimony so that God can use your words to change lives. Don’t let it lead to an argument. You are not going to lead someone to Christ through persuasive words or the logic of men. It is not what we say or how we say it, but it is God who changes lives. Remember that you do not have the power in yourself to convince anyone of spiritual truth. The Holy Spirit convicts non-Christians of their need to know Christ (John 16:8).
Thanks for reading my post. I pray that it has motivated you to prepare your own personal testimony so that you can share Christ’s love with others. Please send me any feedback, comments or questions that you may have. I would also like to hear if there are any topics that you would like me to deal with in the future. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Bye for now.
References
- https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dwellcc.org/learning/essays/preparing-your-personal-testimony&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1654069515128225&usg=AOvVaw1ytkp-o1rYICMVarZykvyz
- https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.learnreligions.com/how-to-write-your-christian-testimony-701445&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1654069515127276&usg=AOvVaw3WQbtOnsEfSic3sDlvCpcp
