Why is having a personal testimony important for a believer in Jesus Christ?
In our modern culture a misconception about God and Christianity is that God is not relevant,and that an experience with God is distant and could not be grounded in our busy personal lives. Sadly to report many people in our culture do not even believe a personal God exists at all. These misconceptions of God often cause the curious seeker to miss out on a fulfilling relationship with the God of the universe who fashioned the tiniest atom in the process of vital cell division,and a God who shaped the deepest desires of every heart. The God whose name is spoken so many times in vain that the name is just passed over with little regard to its incalcuable meaning, fashioned the innermost desires of each human heart. God orders the breath of this moment allowing me to write these thoughts known by God before the thought ever entered my mind.
We are commanded to be responsible and ready to give an account for our faith, or (elpidos in the Greek) not to just hear ourselves talk or prove someone wrong,but through love we are urged to draw men and women to an understanding and worship of Christ who longs to unveil His true purpose for their lives in ways that they have never considered. God uses our personal testimony to share with others in a genuine and convincing way how the living God who may seem obscure to a faction of culture has called each and every Christian witness engaging in apologetics,which is defined as "a logical and reasoned defense of your faith in a context of objection"(Caner,30) to effectively reach others with the gospel through what God is doing in the lives of believers. God has called us to be light,and to be an exact reflection of the life of Christ in our culture. God needs our help. God still uses the functioning of His church to act as His hands and feet and the many,varied stories of lives changed and awakened to project His life to a lost and hurting world.
On a mission trip to Romania in May 2008, God inspired me to parallel the emotional struggles of my past and freedom in Christ with the story of the fall of oppression and communism that has finally enabled many in Romania to declare a newfound belief in God. I hope I was able to form a relevant bond and connection with the Romanians I had the privilege of sharing with. Yes the trip was difficult. I was simply yielded to be a vessel representing the freedom and broken chains that Jesus Christ has released from me.
I work with many Hindu people at a Publix Super Market who are from India.I often wondered how I could be able to introduce some aspect of my Christian faith with a Hindu. Then on a Public Broadcasting special I knew how I was going to share in a topical way. The piece was about the Ganges river that is deemed sacred to the Hindu culture in India. I was able to tell Hadijjah that in Christianity we also celebrate a ritual involving water. I told her that in baptism a believer in Christ will be dipped and taken under the water because this is symbolic of the death and burial of Jesus Christ. Upon being raised up from the baptismal waters the believer is identified with the new life and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It was exiting to share the gospel and connect with someone who may not ever be presented with the gospel through topical apologetic.
Sometimes we make witnessing too difficult when it can be simple;but believe it or not your story is crucial and important to God's story. So much so that God,the LORD, Yahweh,I am,the Most High gave His only begotten Son to redeem every detail of the story of your life so that you could in turn be a voice for the hope of God that has been placed in you with someone else who is searching for a redifined storyline of their life.
Yes,having a personal testimony is important for a believer in Jesus Christ.
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