Monday, October 25, 2010
Tell Your Story
"Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" So the people came streaming from the village to see him. —John 4:29-30
One of the most effective tools you have in your evangelistic toolbox is telling your story, your personal testimony about how you came to believe in Jesus.
After a conversation with Jesus at the well, the Samaritan woman—minutes old in the faith—immediately went out and told others. The Bible tells us that "many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, ‘He told me everything I ever did!' " (John 4:39).
It is the power of a changed life. Use your story, because it is a way to preach to a person without preaching at a person. People don't like to be preached to. Your story is a bridge. You can say, "Let me tell you my story. I didn't always believe these things. Here is what I used to be. Here is the way I used to live. Here is what I used to think. But here is what I heard, and this is how it changed my life." They can argue with a sermon, but they can't argue with your story. They can't argue with what God has done for you. So use that story to build the bridge.
Telling your story is a powerful bridge for the gospel message. It is merely a bridge to tell His story. It is not about you; it is about Him. So when you tell your story, don't glorify or exaggerate your past. Sometimes I have heard people give their testimonies, and the story gets more dramatic with the telling. Sometimes Christians want to make their story more dramatic to be more impressive. Just tell the truth.
Don't boast about what you gave up for God, but about what God gave up for you. We gave up guilt. We gave up judgment. We gave up hell. And in their place, God gave us purpose and meaning and heaven. And remember, it is not about you. It is about Him.
Copyright © 2010 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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