Telling your testimony out loud to someone
Writing your testimony is one thing. Telling it to someone face to face is another: your voice trembles, the words tumble over each other, the other person's gaze is intimidating. This monthly quest invites you to take that step and tell what God has done for you, out loud, to a specific person.
What it looks like in your day
Here is how to prepare and live it:
- Choose your testimony. You have several: conversion, healing, forgiveness, direction, answered prayer. Take the one that will speak most to the person you have in mind.
- Choose the person and the moment. A close friend, a trusted colleague, a family member. In a quiet place, with no time pressure.
- Introduce it simply. “There's something I'd like to tell you, if you have ten minutes.” Or: “You asked me what had changed in me.”
- Tell it in your own words, following your three sentences: before, the encounter, after. You can allow yourself a few details, some silences.
- Listen to their reaction. Ask a question: “Does this speak to you?” “Have you ever experienced something similar?”
- Thank them for listening. No matter what they think of it.
If you are short on time, practice telling it in two minutes before saying it. If you are shy, rehearse out loud in front of a mirror, then in front of a believing friend. If you haven't yet found the person, pray that they will show up.
You can also record your testimony on your phone, listen to it again, and adjust. It helps to find a natural tone.
What the Bible says
The man freed by Jesus from possession wants to follow him, but Jesus gives him another mission:
“Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.”
No grand mission: “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.” This man told what Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed. A testimony spoken out loud begins close to home. The Samaritan woman, for her part, becomes a witness to her whole town:
“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.”
She didn't give a long speech: she said what had happened to her, and many believed because of her word. Finally, Paul lays the foundations of testimony in front of his brothers by calling them “brethren, and fathers” before telling his story (Acts 22:1).
Pitfalls to avoid
Justifying yourself. You don't have to defend your faith, you are telling it. If the other person objects, listen without bristling.
The monologue. A ten-minute testimony with no pause wears people out. Leave silences, ask questions.
Expecting a conversion. Your goal is to share, not to obtain a decision. If the person reacts coolly, it is not a failure: they may think about it later.
Embellishing. Keep the honesty of your story. Say what was hard, what is still hard.
Getting discouraged if it goes badly. A first time can be clumsy. Thank God that you dared, and try again with someone else.
This month, choose one person and tell them out loud what God has done for you.