Share Your Testimony
A testimony is a powerful thing, it can help encourage other believers and even be used to bring nonbelievers to know Jesus Christ. I have mentioned before that we at Mill House Ministries love to hear different testimonies, for me it is a great way to see how God works in the lives of people who are so drastically different except for their love of Christ. It shows how powerful Jesus is, and how much He cares to work through the large and small issues in the individual’s life. No one person’s testimony is the same as another. We may share certain experiences, but how we came to see God is different for all of us. When going through the book of Acts, I noticed that Chapter 16 describes three people’s experience with Paul as he was preaching the Gospel. These three people all show different responses that can be used to describe three different types of testimonies (not an exhaustive list) that we will see through the lives of those who come to know Christ.
The first person that we see is Timothy, “Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ” Acts 16:1-3. We first see that Timothy had the influence of both his parents, Jewish and Greek. He was raised in the young church in Lystra with his mother and grandmother who were both women of the faith, “ 5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.” 2 Timothy 1:5 We also know that he was influenced by his father’s Greek heritage since he was not circumcised.
Timothy is the exact opposite of Paul, who at one time persecuted the church as Saul. Because Timothy does not have such a dramatic conversion story like Paul does, he sometimes gets overlooked. But this does not mean that Timothy was not used by God. Timothy’s backstory can be described by many who have grown up in the church. They know the Scriptures and often at young ages accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Timothy is proof that you don’t have to has a drastic “before and after” story, just simple child-like faith. I recently heard a Pastor proclaim, the testimony of those who were saved at a young age and continued in the faith showed a powerful declaration of sincerity.
The second person that we see in Acts 16 is a woman by the name of Lydia. “13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Acts 16:13-14 not much more is known about Lydia, but from these two passages we can learn a few things about her. First, she was an entrepreneur who sold products to the rich at that time. Purple fabrics were not only expensive, but was the color associated with royalty. We see that she was a worshiper of God, but she had not yet to come to accept Him.
Lydia is the type of person who has the head knowledge of the Scriptures, but does not realize that they need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. These people are the type who believe that they just need to be religious enough or good enough and they will be saved. This was the type of person that I was. I had heard of God, but not that I needed to accept Him. I thought that I just needed to be “good enough” on my own to make it to heaven, the idea of a relationship with God was not something that I was aware of. And just like Lydia, it wasn’t until God opened my heart that I understood.
The third testimony type is that of the jailer. “25 Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas; 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”” Acts 16:25-3 this man was in charge of the jail that Paul and Timothy had been sent to for professing the gospel. Through the power of God the doors and chains were opened, an act that the guard knew he would be put to death for.
This man shows the power that we have as witnesses for God. When Paul and Timothy did not leave their open cells, they showed that it was not by some trick that they had left. The doors were open, but they remained. This allowed the jailer to see the power of God. This is a great reminder for us believers to see that our actions represent Christ and can lead to others seeing God through us.
Often times when we hear testimonies we feel that it needs to fit a certain mold. Through the different people that we have just examined, we truly see that a testimony is unique to the individual who has experienced it. We also see that our story can be a way to witness to others and show them Jesus Christ. We here at Mill House Ministries would love to hear your testimony, feel free to email us yours! If you have questions and do not know if you are saved feel free to reach out to us, we would love to help you find the assurance that is only in Jesus Christ.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex