A PERSONAL TESTIMONY (Part 3 of 3)
By Warrior Richardson
When people say things like, “I dropped to my knees and asked God to forgive me and was determined to live a life that is pleasing to him” they not only describe repentance (the turning away from sin) but trust as well. Their testimony is very simple and very clear—as a good testimony should be—and short and to the point.
When giving your personal testimony just tell it like it happened. That’s how we give the real testimony as opposed to what we think we are supposed to say. The only time we need to give a lot of thought to our testimony is when we open the bible and try to get an understanding of what happened to us at the moment of conversion. When we meditate on what scripture says about conversion, then we give a better testimony, because we not only tell what happened, but we explain what happened in light of God’s revelation in scripture.
When we hear a vivid description of a genuine conversion, we can see the change the person is describing—the person had joy where he once had anger and depression or other problems. When giving a personal testimony people tend to be unclear about exactly who or what God is; but telling people about that ambiguity can actually be very helpful to an unbeliever.
When they understand that we don’t have to understand God in order to be saved, but rather we simply need to trust him (he who cannot be understood but can be known, trusted and loved) they will be able to put an end to the endless list of unanswerable questions unbelievers tend to ask about God, and they can then understand that they can simply trust him.
Saving faith has little to do with the intellect. It is a matter of the will. Saving faith is not something we have because we are stupid or ignorant. It is what we have because we acknowledge what every human knows is true: God loves us.
It’s not blind faith. It is based on knowledge—knowledge that is available to every man, woman, and child (John 1:9); and yes, it is a childlike faith, but most definitely not blind faith. When we take that leap of faith, we leap with our eyes wide open like a child into his father’s arms. In fact, we leap into the light. We trust God like a child (Matthew 18:3) because he is so self-evidently real.
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In this blog I take a close look at a wide variety of topics using the Bible as my lens. When we look at the world through the lens of scripture we discover life-changing truth that transforms us. We discover our
identity, purpose and worth. We find answers to life's most pressing questions. “If you don't know where you're going any road will take you there.” But when we look at the world through the lens of scripture we find the "way, the truth and the life;" then we live life to the fullest.
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