The power of your testimony has the ability to change someone’s life.
Your experiences can comfort someone who is going through the same issues that you went through. It may be difficult to talk about at first, but it will help heal you too. By opening up and sharing you struggles with someone, it confirms to the other person that they are not alone, and it also helps you cope with your emotions and any lingering feelings of sadness, resentment, or confusion. Mentoring is a great way to enrich the life of someone as well as your own life.
For the longest time, I was ashamed of my own testimony. The word “testimony” has a weight that comes with it. Many people think that a testimony must be a grand story that is flashy and amazing, and for a while I was one of those people. But let me tell you, that’s not the case.
God gave you your story just the way it is for a reason. He thinks your story is dazzling and amazing. If you let Him, He can use what you think is mediocre tale for something great that adds to His great story. Once I realized this, I stepped into boldness and was no longer ashamed to share my story with people.
In my own life, I have seen the impact of individual stories. This past semester, I took a trip to New Orleans with two Christian groups from my university over our spring break. All week long we talked to the people of New Orleans, specifically in the Seventh Ward and the French Quarter, and showed them the love of Jesus. We got to hear their stories and we even shared some of our own.
They will have no idea what an impact their life stories had on our group. God was definitely on the move. On the last night of our ministry, we were all standing in the middle of Bourbon Street. Some people had gotten pieces of cardboard and wrote a condensed version of their testimony; they were called “cardboard testimonies”. Our group set up a Spirit Tunnel where we encouraged people to run through, and we cheered for them. At the end of the tunnel, there were the people with the cardboard testimonies.
So many people stopped and read them after they ran through the tunnel and told us how encouraging and brave it was of us to share our stories. At the beginning of the night, some people had been ashamed or self-conscious of their own story but seeing how much it impacted and encouraged the people on Bourbon Street, it strengthened their faith. It was one of the most impactful experiences of the whole trip. I walked away changed forever.
Along with group experiences, one-on-one time with someone is another opportunity to share your story. My first year of college was an amazing experience, but it had its rough patches too. The Lord placed someone in my life at the beginning of the spring semester; that person became someone that I could talk to about anything.
We shared many of the same experiences in life so we were able to help each other figure out things and heal from past hurt. Without even realizing it at first, our own personal stories provided comfort and healing to the other person because we no longer felt that we were alone in our struggles. Our friendship was also built on Christ from the beginning.
As I have grown and matured in my faith (and still am) I have seen the importance of having Christ as the foundation of any relationship with anything other human being. Humans are imperfect, so in saying that, two wrongs don’t make a right. If you solely lean on another person for support, you WILL be disappointed. Whether the other person means to let you down or not, they are going to mess up just like you.
Jesus Christ is that only one that you can count on every single second of every single minute of every single hour or every single day. He comforts you on the days you feel all alone in this big world. He also places people in your life at the most perfect times imaginable.
I encourage you to connect with Christ first. In Him you will find your worth and the importance of your story no matter how small and insignificant you think it is. He will then connect you with other people who you can learn from and who also need you and your experiences. It is amazing how the body of Christ works. We were built to be a community and share ourselves with others.
So, next time when the opportunity arises, don’t shy away from sharing your story. Step into boldness and declare how Christ has helped you through life. It might just be the thing that someone needs to hear in order to make it to the next day.
