Testimonies

Come back with me to a sunny afternoon in July. I was sitting outside on a chair in Gainesville, Georgia…staring. Staring at a blank page. A new journal. A chance for a new beginning. And how was I instructed to start this new beginning??

By telling about my past, of course!

I had been asked by my leaders to share my testimony with everyone on the Philippines team. Not only were our leaders going to share their own testimonies, each of us were going to share our testimonies with the team.

And so it began, my blank page. I sat. I stared. And then I turned to Margo and said, “You know, no one has ever asked me to give my testimony before.” And I had a lot of mixed feelings in the beginning. First, I was scared out of my mind. I was scared of being told to open up to a group of strangers, and I was scared of allowing myself to be vulnerable, something I don’t often allow myself to do.

But you know what? I sat there and realized there was this other part of me that was downright excited.

After listening to the testimonies of my leaders I realized how much better I understood them and how I felt more prepared to serve along side them after hearing where they had come from.

I learned first hand the most beautiful part of giving your testimony is all the dirt. All the sin. All the bad and terrible stuff. It’s beautiful. I could go as far to say it’s absolutely gorgeous. Not because sin is beautiful, but because of what God has done with our sin.

Too often we try to hide all the bad stuff. Thinking to ourselves we are past it, and it really doesn’t matter. But unfortunately, when we have this mindset, we miss the point. The point of giving our testimonies is bringing glory to God! So tell all your dirt, and then tell about how God has made it as white as snow. Not only that, but when we go to such great lengths to hide all our sin; first of all we end up exhausted at always putting on a mask. And secondly, it makes it that much harder for others to talk about their sin. It creates this illusion that we as Christians are “goody two shoes.”

I’m not saying that being a Christian shouldn’t change the way you act. I’m saying the exact opposite. When you come to know God it should absolutely change who you are as well as the way you act. With emphasis on the change. The whole point is the change. And how will everyone know how much you have changed if you never tell them who you were before God came in and took over your life?

So here’s something that doesn’t often enough get said. It’s OK to have dirt. All that sin? God’s telling us to come as we are and He’ll take us from there.

Definitely don’t allow yourself to get stuck in the past, but also don’t just plow on through and never look back. A huge part of knowing who you are now is knowing who you were before.

And finally this brings me to my overall point. We don’t ask our brothers and sisters in Christ to give their testimonies nearly enough. When was the last time you really looked someone in the eye and asked, “So what sin has God pulled you out of?”

But as a side note, as our leaders talked about, don’t come up with dirt either! Your innocence can be just as awesome of a testimony! The amount of sin isn’t what makes up our testimony. Testimonies are the stories of God’s children. Each and every one unique and precious.

So step out and don’t be afraid to share your testimony when you are asked! And better yet, ask the person next to you if they would be willing to share their testimony! We should all be getting to know our family a little better.

After all, in order to serve others with them you need to know how you can best serve them.