Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story

The thought of sharing your testimony can be daunting; I know it is for me.

A few years ago, I traveled to Belize City on a missions trip with my church. For months leading up to the trip, we practiced delivering our testimonies over and over again. We practiced at home, with partners, in front of the missions team, in front of the youth and in front of the church.

It was scary enough having to share something so personal and so important with some of my closest friends and family, and now I was preparing to share it in front of a crowd of strangers in a foreign country. I was terrified.

One night of the trip during a youth service, the time came for me to stand in front of 30
Belizean teenagers and share my encounter with God, what He did for me and what He did for each and every one of them on the cross. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty; I’m sure my face was red and my voice was shaky.

But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because no matter how nervous I was, I knew that God could use my testimony and my experience with the gospel to touch lives. Did any of the teenagers that I spoke to stand up right then and get saved because of how I shared the gospel? No. Does that mean that me sharing the gospel was in vain? Absolutely not. I planted a seed. Maybe I watered a seed that was already inside some of them. Either way, I exposed them to what Jesus did on the cross for us, how it has changed my life and God’s unfailing and unwavering love for them.

Each of us has a story to tell about what God has done in our lives and each one of us needs to be prepped and ready for our turn to step up and share our testimony. The undeniable center of missional living and the Christian life is sharing the gospel so that everyone has the opportunity to know the joy of Jesus Christ. Though everyone’s testimony is different, they are, at the core, all the same. Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us brought us out of the despair and hopelessness of this world and transformed our hearts and lives. Now we will spend eternity serving and praising Him.

I used to make excuses for not sharing my testimony: I’m too young, I’m too inexperienced, I don’t understand enough yet, I won’t know the answer if they ask me tough questions. I always said that I would begin witnessing when I was older and could do a better job. But what I learned in Belize is that it’s not about me. It’s about God. If I’m willing to follow His command to “go and make disciples” (Matt. 28:19) then God can use me to further His kingdom and advance the gospel.

It’s never too early to begin sharing your testimony and the gospel. Prepare now for the missions field you will be serving on for the rest of your earthly life.

“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story — those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress” (Psalm 107:2 NIV).


By Jessica

Jessica Ingram is a regular contributor to The Scroll. She also is project manager for TAB Media Group. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 2017 and is a member of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham.

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