Giving Your Testimony
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Easton’s Bible Dictionary Testimony
TESTIMONY—(1.) Witness or evidence
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18
You are a reflection or a mirror of the truth of God in you. Your life is a living testimony.
You are a reflection or a mirror of the truth of God in you. Your life is a living testimony.
How do I witness to someone I know?
Its harder to witness to someone I know than to someone I don’t know.
Speak in “first person”
Three times in scripture Paul gave his testimony.
Thomas Aquinas, who knew a great deal about education and a bit about motivation, once said that when you want to convert a person to your view, you go over to where he is standing, take him by the hand, and guide him. You don’t stand across the room and shout at him. You don’t order him to come over where you are. You start where he is and work from that position. He said that’s the only way to get people to budge.
Swindoll, C. R. (2016). The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (p. 620). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
WHEN soldiers come home from war, the folks who love them are at the airport waiting to greet them. When you go home to be with the Lord, who’ll be at the gates for you because you played a part in their eternal destiny?1033 [Evangelism, Call of]
CHRISTIANS who refuse to witness are saying to those people they choose not to witness to, “You can go to hell.”1034 [Hell; Evangelism, Responsibility of; Sharing the Gospel]
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WHEN soldiers come home from war, the folks who love them are at the airport waiting to greet them. When you go home to be with the Lord, who’ll be at the gates for you because you played a part in their eternal destiny?1033 [Evangelism, Call of] CHRISTIANS who refuse to witness are saying to those people they choose not to witness to, “You can go to hell.”1034 [Hell; Evangelism, Responsibility of; Sharing the Gospel]
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DURING an election, people make it clear whom they stand for. They display their preferences on bumper stickers, on placards, and on commercials. They show up at rallies and stick signs in their yards. There are also those people whoeither don’t care or who are undecided. Many Christians fit in the latter category. The world just doesn’t know where we stand.1035 ;
WITNESSING,
IMPORTANCE OF
WHEN the Titanic went under, three messages had been sent that said to watch out for the icebergs. Because everything looked all right, the folks taking the message never passed it on. They never sent the warning out to people who needed to hear and, as a result, over fifteen hundred people lost their lives. The folks who knew kept quiet. Another tragedy of the Titanic was that the lifeboats, designed to carry people away from the sinking ship, were only half full. People who had made it to safety in the lifeboats didn’t want to turn around and go pick up people who were dying. They didn’t want to take the risk of panicking people flipping over their boat. So the people who were saved and safe kept on going. Fifteen hundred people didn’t have to die, but they did. The folks who were saved didn’t want to go back because it was risky. Sharing the gospel has risks—the risk of rejection, the risk of being made fun of, the risk of being called “holier than thou,” the risk of being called “Reverend,” the risk of being avoided, the risk of being asked questions you don’t know the answer to. Yes, there are risks, but when someone is dying, offering them the gift of salvation is worth the risk.1036 [Evangelism, Need for; Risk; Sharing the Gospel; Witnessing]
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WITNESSING, MOTIVATION FOR
A LITTLE girl treated her mother badly because she was ashamed of her. Her mother had a big, ugly scar on her face. She looked horrible. The little girl would never bring her friends around because of the scar on her mother’s face. She would never invite her mother to school functions because of the scar on her face. Her mother finally asked her, “Honey, whydon’t you ever bring your friends around? Why don’t you ever invite me to anything?” She said, “Mama, it’s the scar on your face. I can’t bear to introduce you to others.” Her mother said, “Darling, sit down. Let me tell you something I’ve never told you about the scar on my face.
One day, I went out to draw water when you were a little girl, and when I looked back from the well, I saw the house was on fire. I rushed back in, dropped my water, and came and grabbed you, my little baby, out of the crib. The fire was engulfing you, but I got there just in the nick of time. On my way out the house, one of the beams of the house collapsed and hit me across the face. It knocked me to the ground and seethed on my face for a period of time before I could get it off, but I was able to throw you to safety. I just wanted you to know, darling, the next time you don’t want your friends to see me, that the only reason I have a scar on my face is because I was saving your life.”
Jesus has some scars on His hands. He’s got scars on His feet. He’s got a scar on His side. Let me tell you how He got those scars. You and I were on our way to hell. We were on our way to be separated from a holy God forever. But Jesus Christ looked down, and He didn’t want us to suffer the consequences of sin. He told the Father, “I’ll go.” He came down and stretched out on a cross. They nailed His hands in the cross, His feet on the cross, and stuck a spear in His side. So the next time you don’t want to tell anybody about Him, remember how He got His scars. The next time you don’t want to be a disciple, remember how He got His scars. The next time you don’t want to live for Him, remember how He got His scars. When you remember, tell Him you’ll follow Him for the rest of your days.