“Your testimony is the sharpest tool for evangelism.” A movement leader from southeast Asia encourages new believers to immediately write out and practice sharing their story as a way of engaging with the non-believers in their lives. This way, from their earliest days as followers of Jesus, they learn to obey the Great Commission and start making other disciples. As soon as you understand the gospel enough to trust in Jesus yourself you are ready to share the good news with someone else.
And the best way to start that conversation is simply by saying, “This is what happened to me!”
Click here to watch several examples of great gospel testimonies from Oakwood people. A helpful way to structure your story is in three parts: before Jesus, how you met Jesus and after Jesus.
- Think of 2-3 words to describe your life before you committed to Jesus. Were you fearful, self-absorbed, struggling with addiction, simmering with anger, medicating with alcohol, obsessing over work, etc.?
- Then describe how you came to understand the grace of Jesus for you. What specific sins did you realize you needed to turn away from and receive forgiveness for? How did you learn about the grace of Jesus?
- Highlight the way Jesus changed you by choosing 2-3 antonyms for your “before Jesus” words. If you were fearful, you might focus on the peace that Jesus gave you. If you were a slave to sin, you might talk about new freedom in Christ. If you were self-focused, you could share about your new joy in serving others.
As you can see in my story above, my early experience with God involved guilt and fear. I never doubted the existence or holiness of God, so I knew I was sinful and therefore in trouble with God. Hence – guilt and fear. (That’s my before Jesus.)
But then a youth leader explained that God is the perfect heavenly Father – and even if we mess up really badly, He will never stop being our Father. So I began to understand the permanence and security of a relationship with God. (That’s how I came to trust in Jesus as a young teenager.)
Peace in the love of Christ drove out fear of judgment. And the joy of being forgiven and loved by God replaced my guilt. (That’s my after Jesus.)
All of those sections can obviously be expanded and adjusted. You may have 3-4 versions of your testimony that you can use in different situations, with different people. In small groups with men I often talk about moving from slavery and addiction to freedom and victory in Christ. With other pastors I talk about my early years in ministry that were often all about me, and how the Lord has graciously but consistently taught me to humble myself and focus on Him.
Skip to 27:00 in our 7/11/21 worship service (below) to hear some inspiring testimonies from three believers getting baptized at Oakwood! They did a great job highlighting their before and after!
What’s YOUR story?