Live Your Testimony!

Are you walking the walk
or just talking the talk?

By Cheryl Paulsen

Bang! The gavel hits the desk and silence falls in the courtroom. The judge calls for the first witness to give testimony. What is a testimony? It is a person’s statement of what he saw or experienced. In the court of criminal law, a testimony is used as evidence to establish guilt or innocence.

If you are a Christian, you have a testimony. You have experienced salvation and have your own personal story of how it happened. Your testimony can stand as evidence to others that God can come into a person’s heart and make a difference.

Many people today have very little understanding of God. Your schoolmates and coworkers may not have been raised in religious homes. Perhaps they do not go to church regularly or have never attended Sunday school. They may not even own a Bible. God’s Word says, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2). The Apostle Paul was telling the Christians at Corinth that their lives were like a letter that could be read by those around them. Those who never read the Bible can read a Christian’s life and be influenced to seek God.

How’s your credibility?

The critical issue is that Christians must live their testimonies. It’s important to tell others about God whenever there is an opportunity. But the credibility of what a Christian says must be backed up by how that person lives. Someone is watching you most of the time, even when you are not aware of it. As you walk down the hall at school, sit in class, work on the job, drive down the street, shop in a store, or eat in a restaurant—if you claim to be a Christian, the credibility of Christianity is affected by how you conduct yourself.

Recently a group of believers went to a restaurant after church on a Friday night. The waiter asked what church they went to, and they told him. As the conversation continued, they discussed the deportment of Christians in a restaurant. The waiter indicated that at times church groups come in and act rudely or are extremely unthoughtful. He said, “We [the employees of the restaurant] know when you come in that you’ve been to church. Perhaps we’ve been trying to witness to some of our coworkers. When a church group acts poorly, then our witness is defeated.”

Someone is watching every Christian. How he acts, how he talks, if he is honest and faithful, could determine whether or not that someone will decide to serve God. All the verbal witness in the world does little or no good if a Christian does not live his testimony.

A man who was raised by Christian parents but had chosen not to serve God worked as a stagehand in a municipal auditorium. He had very little respect for the members of many Christian groups that rented the facility. He said, “They can say all sorts of good things out there on the stage. But when they are backstage, they don’t act like Christians at all.” What a sad story!

What would Jesus do?

What do the people watching your life think? Do they see God in you? Are you kind and polite? Do you show compassion for others? Are you careful how you talk about others? Are you always in your place, doing your best? In any situation, the believer can ask himself, “What would Jesus do?”

So what happens if you mess up? You do something and feel instantly that it wasn’t right. The Lord brings you up short and you know He is not pleased. The devil will shout, “Give up! Look what you’ve done. You might just as well quit now.” Don’t listen! Instead, go before the Lord with an honest heart and ask Him to forgive you. Tell Him you want to make sure your relationship with Him is in order. Then ask Him to help you live your testimony. However, it may take some extra careful living to reestablish your credibility when you’ve messed up. The confidence of those watching you has been torn down by seeing you do wrong. But God is able to help you overcome that and live each day for Him.

Take a hard look at your life. God wants to use you—yes, you!—as His witness. He wants your testimony to influence others to come to Him. Seek His help, and live your testimony.

Cheryl Paulsen is Corporate Secretary at the Apostolic Faith International Headquarters in Portland, Oregon.