Tell

After we've prayed, we can live like God wants us to. But as we live, our life tells of what God has done for us.

The church has a lot of big words. Many of these we speak and really don't understand them, and they tend to scare off people who aren't in the church. This isn't the words' fault; they just don't get explained well.

One of these words is 'testimony.' A testimony is simply telling the story of what God has done in your life. See, the world can argue with anything you say if you try to convince them that God is true or that the Jesus is the only way to God. It's sad, but true, especially since there are no truer truths than these. However, the one thing you can tell someone that they can't argue with is the things God has done personally in your life. This is your testimony: how can someone try to tell you that what happened to you actually didn't happen?

You go to a foreign land and tell someone that God is great and loving, and you likely will see many people receive this truth eagerly. This is the reason that the Gospel is spreading like wildfire across Ethiopia right now. The people in these areas of the world see their need and see Jesus as the remedy, especially since there is so much spiritual oppression. Jesus is freedom and hope, something they don't have.

But in America and other more developed countries, people are comfortable where they are. Although they may see where they are in need, most of the time they can rationalize it away with the false hopes of the world. The need is not plain as day, and therefore, when Jesus is presented to them, it is easy to reject Him because (they think) they don't need Him.

I went through much of my teenage years knowing God quite well but not really recognizing how much I needed Him. This meant only taking in as much of Him as I had the time for or I had the attention for. Then I got to a place where I realized that I could either give up totally or run to Him as fast as I could to get as much as I could because I needed more of Him than I could imagine.

You can tell Your friends about Jesus, His love and greatness, and the hope of heaven. Some of your friends may be interested and want to hear more. This is solely due to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. But, it is increasingly getting difficult to convince people to be receptive to the message because of their difficulty in seeing their need. But if they see by your actions that you live like a Christian, and also hear you tell of what God has done in your life, then they will likely give it a second thought. It's hard to argue with that.

You know the expression "wearing your heart on your sleeve?" Well, I wear my testimony on mine. You may have seen me wearing two rubber wristbands on my right wrist. These aren't decorations or supporting some cause. Other than balancing out my watch on my other arm, they represent my testimony. One is a yellow Generation Unleashed 2009 wristband, where God met me in such a way that I can never doubt His existence or love again. This represents what God's done in the past. The other, a white TriMet wristband. Yes, I love TriMet, but that's not why I wear it. It represents promises God has made about my future. So my entire life is represented on my arm. They tell my testimony.

What's your testimony? Do you think you even have one? You think, "I wasn't formerly living in a lifestyle of incessant sin, which God saved me from. I didn't have some amazing, miraculous healing done which led me to Him. I grew up in the church! My testimony isn't that powerful." If that's what you think, then you and I have a similar testimony. And it is just as powerful as someone with one that is book-worthy. God has done something in your life; that is sufficient.

So take joy in your testimony and tell people about it. They can't deny it. And once they are listening, tell of God's love. A testimony's a beautiful think, isn't it?