Tell Your Story

As I write this seed, the church I attend is in the middle of an event called ‘Real Lives’. It’s a week’s event, providing Christians with a unique opportunity to bring their non-Christian friends to hear, in a relaxed atmosphere, real stories from people whose lives have been changed by Jesus. As a boy of twelve, one speaker watched as his father was shot by an I.R.A sniper. He eventually took revenge and finished up in prison, where Jesus met him. Another person was from an abusive past and was left feeling like an outcast with an unquenchable desire to belong. Her longing was fulfilled when she met Jesus on an Alpha Course. Yet another speaker began modelling at fourteen years of age, and became a super model with a confused identity, until she met Jesus. The final speaker, a baroness, decided to use her peerage to be a voice for the voiceless by standing against injustice and setting up a charity to help persecuted Christians and other suffering people throughout the world.

People who are motivated to effectively tell their story are full of gratitude for all that God has done for them. They’ve been redeemed from the hand of the enemy, bought with the precious blood of Jesus and transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light. They are people in love with Jesus and overflowing with love for others. If you’ve been redeemed, you also have a story to tell – a story of the transformation Jesus has made in your life. It’s not something you rehearse, but something you do when God opens doors of opportunity. When you tell your story, you’re doing what Jesus said you would do when the Holy Spirit fills your life. You’re being His witness by passing on the reality of His presence to those who don’t know Him.

A little while ago, my son and daughter-in-law visited the fishing village in North East Yorkshire where I heard the Gospel for the first time and responded to the amazing love of the One who knew everything about me, and still loved me. My son took a photo of the very spot where I was saved and had it made into a jigsaw, which my husband completed and framed. It hangs on the dining room wall and has opened up opportunities for me to tell the beginning of my story to a number of visitors to our home.

Real life stories impact, and can even bring hope to, the people we’re privileged to share them with. Lovers of Jesus all have a story to tell – a testimony of God’s faithfulness, grace and unchanging nature in every circumstance of life. We can look back and praise Him for His enduring love, stand in the present, anchored in His faithfulness and look forward to the future with hope and confidence.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your holiness and steadfast character. Thank You for my unique story of Your enduring love, faithfulness, hope and confidence. Thank You that You gave Jesus to be my Saviour and my Lord. Thank You that, because of Him, I can know You intimately as my Father. Please fill me today with Your Holy Spirit, so that I’ll take the opportunities to tell my story and be a blessing to others. Amen.