tes·ti·mo·ny

/ˈtestəˌmōnē/

noun

“a formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in a court of law.”

Before I became a Christian I never heard any other way of talking about testimonies than this. But often when Christians talk about giving their testimony, and about testifying, it points to something really important. One of the most important things we can do as a believer, is to bear witness, to tell our story as truthfully as possible, and the courtroom imagery is helpful, those who hear these stories are going to make a judgement, and for many, these stories are used by God to bring them closer to Him!

I remember the first time sharing my salvation story (testimony) in front of our church back in 1996, we had two services, which totaled about 700 people, and I was 16 years old and was super nervous. Part of what God set me free from was a ton of anxiety where I had a hard time looking at the eyes of one person and having a conversation let alone standing before and engaging a crowd like that. 

But Jesus did something in my life and I was going to be obedient and share about it.  Everything in my life just started going sideways just before, I got sick, there were car problems, family problems and more, and after I did share it, I walked away wondering if it did any good. I was just beating myself up on how bad I did.

Now after decades of sharing testimonies and helping other’s to share theirs I’ve come to learn … that experience was really common and was all a spiritual attack, and over the years, people would share with me how much that very raw, very real, very fresh testimony was for them.  There was even some people who came to to faith in Jesus that day.

At Epiphany we love testimonies, but we also know how much Satan hates them. 

In John’s Revelation, chapter 12  John describes a vision of the birth of Jesus from a cosmic, supernatural perspective, where Satan really tries to destroy the church. In that vision Satan is defeated and cast down from heaven and in verse 11 we read

They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.

We have victory by “blood of the Lamb” and “the word of our testimony”.  The death of Jesus actually opens the doors for all the blessings that come into our life, starting with our salvation, but our part is to tell the story. This is how it all works, Jesus does this amazing work of saving, healing, forgiving, delivering, bringing us into a loving family and so much more, and our part to play is to simply give Him the glory.

One of my favorite seasons was last winter (2023-24) where we had a testimony scheduled every Sunday.  Testimonies remind us of the imminense of God in a way that nothing else does. As we were sharing stories God used it in such a powerful way that more people had new stories of experiencing God in new ways. Their level of their faith increased as they heard God do something for someone they knew and trusted, they were able to believe, maybe God can also do this for me.  So they asked God. This reminds me of one of the themes of the New Testament, we have not because we ask not. God is often more willing to give, then we are to just approach Him.

I want to see us regularly share testimonies, but I’ve been convicted that we need to be intentinoally about organizing time for that to happen.  Often I don’t have the bandwidth to invite, organize and coach people through sharing their stories every week along with the other thing’s God has called me to do, and so I’m happy to let you know that I’ve been able to have Ashlee begin to step up and help testimonies be a more regular party of our Sunday gatherings again.


There are two kinds of stories we can tell.

We can tell the story of how Jesus saved us.  This is the story of when the gospel hope found in the the death and ressurection of our Lord, became our personal hope, and the impact that has had in our lives.  When we really meet Jesus, we are never the same. Sharing this story is one of the most powerful ways we have to share our faith with others who don’t know what to think about God yet, and invite them to follow Jesus.

But we also tell stories of how He continues to work in our lives. How He speaks, He heals, He leads, He continues to forgive us.. and so much more.  When we tell these stories of God working actively in our lives, it awaken’s faith in those who hear it, which is exactly why our enemy hates it. 

So given how important testimonies are, so important that Satan hates them, here is some advice on sharing your testimony.


PRAY– Don’t forget giving God glory and telling people what He’s done for you put’s a target on you, PRAY, that God would protect you, and trust that He will, He has a host of angels to dispatch, pray in the name and authority of Jesus.  Tell Him you’ll be faithful, even if it ‘rocks the boat’ in the ways the enemy has a grip on you, and pray that you would become totally His. Sometimes this process isn’t painless, but it is always worth it!

PREPARE– I would encourage you to write down your story (you may never read it to someone, but this helps you collect and organize your thoughts), be ready to share a minute version, a 3 minute version or a 5 minute version depending on the time you are given.  Be intentional to make God the hero of your story, not you!  Be careful to never exaggerate your story, because over time all that does is teach people to take testimonies with a grain of salt.

TAKE THE RISK- Open your mouth and tell that story that’s on your heart. Trust that God will use it powerfully, and just like my own experience first sharing my salvation story, don’t get caught up in your head if you think there was no fruit. (Reality is, you’ll get to see the fruit if your patient) God didn’t ask you to ‘create’ some specific immediate result, He promises that we overcome by the word of our testimony, just be faithful.