Be My Witnesses = Share Your Testimony

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Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, he made a promise to his disciples: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The call to be a witness applies to all Christians, and its beauty lies in its simplicity. All of us can bear witness to the degree that we have encountered and been transformed by Jesus Christ. It does not require the sophistication of study needed to be a teacher, nor the charisma necessary to be an evangelist. The encounter with Jesus itself qualifies us for the role.

Witnesses share how God has transformed their lives. They proclaim to others how they came to forgive, surrender, believe, hope and love. Witnesses tell stories from their own experience that shed light on how Jesus Christ continues his mission to save souls today. These stories are commonly referred to as testimonies, and your testimony in particular is incredibly important to God’s work today.

Why Give Testimony?

One of the reasons the Holy Spirit lives in you is to give power to your testimony. Testimonies, in general, are compelling. There are several reasons for this.

First, testimonies are hard to argue against. Someone cannot simply disagree with your testimony, like they could if you were explaining why Peter was the first pope. They can only try to discredit you by attributing your experience of God to some other phenomenon or calling you a liar. Either way, a rebuttal borders on a personal attack, and most people realize that that’s just rude. If you’re the type of person who gets nervous about the possibility of an argument, testimonies are the way to go for evangelizing others.

Another reason testimonies effectively communicate God’s goodness is that they are practical. Often, when the faithful hear someone teach on the spiritual life, they are intrigued but generally lack clarity regarding the practicals. I used to help a priest lead day retreats at our parish. He possessed an unparalleled conviction about what God wanted for us and the need for our response. He would preach passionately, “Prayer is for moving your heart! I pray to open my heart to God to change me!” While many of our hearts burned with desire for God, none of us could figure out how to move our hearts while we prayed or what exactly he meant by any of it! Testimonies bridge this gap. When people hear your story about how God moved in your life and changed you, it shines light on the practical. Testimonies show people what it looks like, what it feels like, for God to do something amazing in our lives.

Testimonies also expand people’s hope. There have been so many times when I have heard a testimony and thought, “WOW, I didn’t know God could do that!” In reality, none of us have any idea what God is capable of. Bill Johnson, the pastor of Bethel Church, once said that our view of God is fundamentally shaped by our belief in his goodness. Most of us struggle to believe that God is good in every situation. A lot of us believe he is pretty good most of the time, but we are far from taking him at his word about his own goodness. When you share your testimony, it increases faith and hope in God’s goodness.

Sharing Your Testimony

So, how do you share your testimony? The formula is pretty simple. Break the testimony into three sections: life before, the transformative encounter and life after. Identify a theme that runs throughout the testimony. The theme generally pinpoints what God was accomplishing in the encounter. Examples are: moving from addiction to freedom, from doubt to belief, from despair to hope, from bitterness to forgiveness, etc. The theme will provide continuity to each section of the testimony.

Begin by sharing about your life leading into the encounter. Some detail helps to understand the transformation that is to take place, but too much detail and backstory bog the testimony down and risk losing focus. Try to share enough information for the listener to understand and appreciate the transformative encounter and life after most fully.

The details that you share should reflect the theme of the testimony. If the theme is “addiction to freedom,” you should talk about the reality of your addiction, how it impacted your life, relationships, relationship with God, etc. Those details are important to understand your life leading into the moment of encounter and what changed. You want to avoid over-emphasizing details that glorify a sinful lifestyle or exaggerating to make the conversion more dramatic.

The main section focuses on the transformative encounter with God. This is the focal point of the testimony and is worth spending the most time on. Again, be honest about what happened. Do not feel insecure about what you experienced, and do not feel any need to embellish a single detail. God works in reality, and what he has done in your life is worth sharing. Do your best to describe how you experienced God’s presence, love and peace while knowing that your inability to find words for things only increases the curiosity of those listening. The key to this section is to glorify God by proclaiming his wonderous deeds.

Finally, the proof is in the pudding. God’s work in us is marked by conversion, transformation and growth. The purpose of your testimony is not to give witness that God exists, but that Jesus Christ is alive and can change your life; he can save you from everything you fear and fulfill all your desires. Your life after the encounter reflects some aspect of that truth. Remember, the life after section follows the theme of the testimony. What does freedom look like for you now? How has your image of God changed? How has your relationship with him changed? This section should be littered with the fruits of the Holy Spirit (joy, peace, goodness, generosity, kindness, love, patience, etc.).

The Church and the world need you to share your testimony more often. People need reasons to believe. They need to see and hear that Jesus Christ is alive and still at work. They need to be reminded that sin is not too big a barrier for the love of the Father. People need to know that there is hope for them and their loved ones.

Remember what the Lord has done for you and live out your call to be a witness to Jesus today.