Your Personal Testimony

Do you panic every time you’re in a group and the leader asks for volunteers to share their personal testimony?

I used to be like that until someone shared with me exactly what a personal testimony is. First, let’s look up the definition of the word “testimony.” Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary[1] defines a testimony as “an open acknowledgement or a public profession of religious experience.” That’s pretty simple to understand, isn’t it? Your personal testimony is just a verbal accounting (open acknowledgement) of your conversion experience.

I was saved at age five during an evangelistic meeting in my home church in Carlsbad, New Mexico. I have no doubts that God saved me as a result of that experience. My fear of sharing my testimony, especially when I was an adolescent, was based on the fact that I didn’t feel I had much to share because I was saved at such a young age. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I actually heard an individual share an illustration that helped me to understand fully what a Christian testimony was. With apologies to the individual who originally told this story, I will share my version of it.

In an evangelistic meeting one evening, the preacher asked for individuals to share testimonies illustrating the grace of God in their lives for the encouragement of those in attendance. (That, by the way, is one of the primary reasons why we should be willing to share our testimonies.) The first person to volunteer was a large, rough-looking, bearded gentleman with a shaved head, multiple tattoos, facial scars, and a gravely voice. He stood and offered the following testimony concerning the grace of God.

“I never had a father and my mother had to work two jobs to make ends meet. As a result, I was left on my own from the time I started school. With virtually no supervision, I ended up gravitating to the wrong crowd and became involved with a gang of boys when I was about 12 years old. As a member of this gang, I was expected to steal, to drink, to do drugs, and to do whatever was necessary to protect my fellow gang members. I was in and out of juvenile detention.

“A few months after my 18th birthday I was arrested for armed robbery of a convenience store. I was sentenced to 20 years in prison where I learned even more criminal behavior. I was released after serving 15 years, but having never learned how to live a normal life, I returned to my life of crime.

“I became a member of a motorcycle gang of individuals who were about as ruthless and evil as anyone I had ever known. It was only a matter of time before I was totally immersed in the activities of this gang and regularly involved in drinking, drugs, sex, and general mayhem. As a member of this gang, I was involved in more robberies, assaults, rapes, and even murders. As a result of these crimes, I eventually was arrested and returned to prison, this time for life.

“While in prison, I became angry and rebellious. During the first several years, I spent much of my time in solitary confinement. One day, after just having been released from solitary, a prison chaplain came to see me in my cell. Of course, I had no use for anyone, much less one who was religious. I laughed when he asked if he could talk to me. He persisted in coming to see me and gave me a New Testament. I tossed it on my bunk, but later was curious to see what it was about.

“I had never seen a Bible before that time. I began to read the New Testament and though much of what I read made little sense, I understood enough to realize that I was missing something in my life. Some of what I read made me angry, but other verses that I read pricked my heart and made me cry like a little baby. I was embarrassed that a big, rough guy like me could be reduced to tears by mere words, but that only confirmed that there was something to what I was reading.

“The next time the chaplain came, I had dozens of questions for him. He spent time answering my questions and ultimately led me to a passage of scripture that showed me exactly who I was. I realized for the first time in my life that I was a horrible sinner who was headed for Hell. After only a few more meetings with the chaplain, I realized that I needed to be saved. I asked him to lead me in a prayer to confess my sins and ask Jesus to come into my heart and life and be my Savior and Lord.

“I became a committed Christian and a model prisoner. I eventually began to lead a Bible study with inmates in the prison. By the time my parole hearing took place, I had found such favor with the prison authorities that I was released from prison. I have been serving the Lord Jesus ever since. This, to me, is exemplifies the grace of God.”

The congregation resounded with hearty “amens” and scattered applause. The burly man sat down and across the sanctuary from where he sat, a frail, weathered-looking, middle-aged woman stood up and began to speak.

“I was the product of a broken home. My dad left when I was eight and my mom did her best to be there for my sisters and me. I was very bitter and angry with my dad and became very rebellious during my adolescence. Having missed out on the love and affection from a loving father, I reached out to boys my age and older for whatever affection I could get. I became sexually active by age 11, but found no fulfillment in all my sexual activity. I got pregnant when I was 13 and my boyfriend at the time helped me to find a place where I got an abortion.

“I had many boyfriends and sexual partners during my teen years, and became pregnant two more times. Rather than abort these babies, I sold them through an unscrupulous attorney to couples who couldn’t have children of their own. I didn’t care about either baby. I just needed money to buy drugs. During that time, I unknowingly contracted several sexually transmitted diseases.

“I was addicted to sex and desperate for money. I used sex to try to fill the emptiness in my heart and the money I made to buy drugs to anesthetize the horrible pain I continually felt. I went from having sex with most anyone for free to selling my body to anyone who would pay. By the time I was 20 I looked 40 and couldn’t sell my body any longer. I sunk into a deep depression and attempted suicide twice. I ended up on the street, a hopeless junkie who didn’t want to live any longer.

“One day, in my desperation, I went to a homeless shelter for a free meal. It so happened that on that day, a woman from a local ministry was there sharing a message from the Bible. My mother had taken my sisters and me to church when we were little, but I stopped going. She read the Bible to us, but I tuned out most of the time. Still, as this woman read from God’s Word, some of the verses she read brought back the few fond memories I had from childhood. This time, however, the true meaning of the words hit me right between the eyes!

“I ate slowly so that I could hear as much as this woman had to read, and when she finished, I sought her out to ask her for help. She took me aside and listened to my story and then asked me if I would like to be set free from my past. Of course, I did, and she knelt and prayed with me to receive Christ and to be released from the bondage of the life I had chosen. I was gloriously saved in that encounter, but what I had never expected was to be healed of the sexually transmitted diseases I had contracted years before. I was saved, healed, and set free in a matter of minutes. I have lived for Christ ever since. I now work with the woman who led me to Christ to help others. Now, that is the grace of God!”

Once again, the sanctuary was filled with verbal approval. The woman sat down and in the very back of the sanctuary an elderly woman stood to her feet. The preacher acknowledged her and she began to speak.

“I was born to the two godliest parents on earth. My mother and father raised me in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord.’ I was taken to church every Sunday from the week after I was born until I left home to attend college. I never saw my parents fight, and what few arguments they had, they resolved in a very Christian manner. They loved each other and they loved me and demonstrated the love of Christ to me virtually every day of my life.

“When I was old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong, I asked my parents to lead me through the plan of salvation which I had heard many times during my childhood. I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when I was eight years old and I have served Him ever since. To me, this is the grace of God.”

Now, this illustration was specifically about the “grace of God,” but it serves also to make my point that everyone has a personal testimony. God’s grace is every bit as evident in the life of the young child who receives Him early and lives for Him continually as it is in the life of an ex biker, prostitute, or junkie who becomes saved and delivered late in life. The real issue is that God’s grace is sufficient! Period. End of story!

When I realized this, I realized that my testimony was every bit as legitimate as anyone else’s was. Just because I wasn’t a druggie or an axe murdered by the time I was five doesn’t mean that God didn’t perform a miracle in my life when He saved me. God spared me all the misery and heartache that many others have experienced. That’s a wonderful miracle, every bit as significant as being delivered from those things, maybe even better? From that moment forward, I have never been reluctant to share my personal testimony.

If you’ve been reluctant to share your personal testimony for any reason, I want to give you an overview of what a testimony should include. Answer the four questions below and you’ll have a testimony worthy of sharing on any and every occasion.

Your Personal Testimony

1. What was your life like before you received Jesus into your heart and life? (If nothing else, you were lost and headed for Hell!)
   
2. Who or what made you aware of your lost condition and caused you to want to become a Christian? (Was it something someone said, something you read, or just the conviction of the Holy Spirit?)
   
3. What was your actual salvation experience like? (Who led you to the Lord? When and where did it happen? What did you experience and feel as you prayed to ask Jesus into your heart?)
   
4. What difference has Jesus made in your life since you became a Christian? (Obviously, He changed your direction, but what else has He done?)

That’s pretty much all there is to it! You can be as detailed or as concise as you prefer, but your personal testimony will include answers to these four basic questions. Take a few minutes to write down your own answers and then place them in your Bible or wherever you can refer to them. It won’t be long before you will no longer need to refer to your written answers.

Finally, share your testimony as often as possible. It will encourage others and bolster your own faith. And when people ask you how to become a Christian, refer to your answer to question #3 and tell them how you did it.

“…Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.”
(1 Peter 3:15)

[1] (c)1999 Prentice-Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.