Let’s keep going with key principles about developing our testimony. Our testimonies flow out of intimacy and gratitude. God’s is blessing us so that he can be glorified, thanked, and adored in our lives. He loves us for our sake and that is why he is at work to save us! Rejoice in that! The primary reason we have a testimony is to honor God first. Our secondary reason is to share with others and watch him do in them what he did in us!
Our testimonies need to be concrete. No “One time, many years ago, in a far off place…” Our testimonies are not vague. They are specific in details. They communicate places, people, times, events and real experiences. We don’t need to obsess over every detail, but we want people to know that our story actually happened in our everyday, relatable life.
Our testimonies need to be accessible. When we share our testimonies, we’re not sharing an autobiography. It’s about us, but it’s not about us. It’s our story, but it’s for them. There’s no value in sharing a story that someone can’t relate to. We’re not in the business of creating more roadblocks by sharing things in ‘mystical’ or otherworldly language. We’re not trying to be impressive, we’re being authentic so others can encounter God!
Our testimonies need to be simple. The “plot” or “thread” of the testimony is clear and easy to follow, without confusing tangents and elaborate details. Jesus Christ is at the center of this testimony. He is its hinge.
Our testimonies need to have a thematic structure. It’s usually helpful to have just one overarching theme, image, or analogy when we build our testimony. One encounter with God can have many different themes like grace or peace or joy. One story can be told in different ways to highlight different themes, but to keep it orderly, stick with one theme to give it structure. Every point of the testimony should in some way be related to this single theme.
Let’s talk briefly about delivery. Though there’s many different ways to approach it, a basic testimony can be be 1 minute or 10 to 15 minutes long. It all depends on your your audience and listening to direction from the Holy Spirit. Learning how to deliver your testimony takes time. Over the years, some intro that I’ve used in conversations sounded like this: “I hear your arguments, but here’s why I follow Jesus,” or, “I’m so sorry to hear about what’s been going on with you. You know what, can I share with you how God’s helped me through something similar…” Or, “I understand how you feel. I struggle with the public scandals hitting the Church, too. As I’ve been battling through things, here is what God has been saying to me about my heart and his Church…” Or, “my marriage was on the rocks, but my wife and I started a long journey of praying together and it’s changed everything. Can I share that with you?”
Sharing your testimony takes practice and prayer. Practice is hard, but worth it. You need the Holy Spirit and the boldness to take a risk. Practicing your basic testimony will help make it easier to take a risk and make your testimony much more fruitful. Now as a quick activity, pick a theme from the Bible like love, joy, mercy, freedom, peace, etc, and ask yourself the question, if I had 2 minutes to share about this theme from my life, what would I say? Try it out loud and go for it. Whatever comes to the top of your mind and without practice. Once you do that, take some time in prayer and rejoice and thank the Lord for what he has done in your life! He didn’t do it just for you to share it! He did it because he loves you!
Next, ask him to help you share it because he loves others as much as he loves you! Using these basic principles and our outline, write out your testimony. If you’re ready to be bold share it and ask for feedback. And as you pray and practice it, ask God to breath his life into it so that your story impacts others the way it’s impacted you!