Good day
As I mentioned in the previous message, "witnessing" is telling others about the things we've seen God do in our lives, or the things we've heard God do in the lives of others. When we witness we show others that they can turn to God and place their trust in Him as well. All of these bear witness to a Father who loves us, cares about us, and who time and time again continues to show us how merciful and patient He is with us, continues to show us His faithfulness and how good He is to us! ...
The word testimony is closely associated with the word "witness". It can be found in 2 Timothy 1:8, Revelation 12:11, 1 John 1:1-4. You may have heard Christians refer to this word when sharing how they came to receive the free gift of eternal life by placing their faith in Jesus Christ or maybe how God came through for them in a certain area, all with the intention of giving glory to God. This word means "to give evidence". It means that we declare the evidence of our covenant relationship with God by testifying what He has done for us.
Studying the account of the Apostle Paul we can see that a testimony is composed of four elements:
What my life was like before receiving eternal life (Acts 22:3-5)
Why I realized that I needed to follow Jesus Christ (Acts 22:6-9)
The details of how I actually accepted Jesus Christ (Acts 22:10-16)
What it means to me to have received eternal Life (Acts 20:18-24)
Using the above as a guide, we could also broaden this to include any life experience that can be shared with others.
When choosing which experience to share, let's say it's related to strife vs love; inferiority vs worthiness; depression vs joy, etc., we should discuss what difference receiving the gift of eternal life has made to our lives regarding that area by sharing the actual real life example of that problem before and after we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Therefore sharing our story is a report of what God has done in us and for us. It allows others to see that what they may be going through isn't unique to them and that what God has done for us, He can do for them as well!
Our lives contain many events that parallel with those around us and as we share the way God has met our needs regarding those same situations, it may lead to an opening for us to pray with them and invite them to accept Christ into their lives as well.
(Always remember that we should be open with others if we expect them to be open with us)
Therefore let's be encouraged to share our experiences with others, sharing what God has done in our lives, giving glory to Him, and allowing that story to help draw others to know Him as well.
Amen
(Always remember that we should be open with others if we expect them to be open with us)
Therefore let's be encouraged to share our experiences with others, sharing what God has done in our lives, giving glory to Him, and allowing that story to help draw others to know Him as well.
Amen