Instructions: A testimony is an expression of contrasts—what a person's like used to be like, and what it is like now—because of what Jesus has done. Thus, it generally is expressed in three parts:
- What kind of person you were before you met Jesus
- How you came to know and trust Jesus
- They way Jesus has changed your life
Paul shares this three-part model in Acts 22 and 26, so read these accounts to get a feel for how to share your own story.
Guidelines for developing an effective testimony:
- Brief - keep it under 2 minutes. Testimony can be of varying lengths, but to share with unbelievers it should not be longer than 2 minutes. With unbelievers, keep in mind that the shorter, the better.
- Focused - keep it centered on Jesus, not you
- To the point - show how Jesus changed your life positively
- Avoid religious jargon
- Avoid age-revealing factors (e.g., "when I was in college," "or when I was 12"). Let them interpret your testimony and connect with the present, rather than write you off because you were "young and naive" when you began to follow Jesus.
- Appeal to emotion as well as the facts. Use language that invites them into the emotional experience of following Jesus and the change that accompanies it.
Consider using a theme to link the three parts of your testimony. Think in generalities about your life — a theme hidden in the details that you could shape the reason you gave your life to Christ and the transformational outcome as a result:
- inner peace
- awareness of sin
- sensing God’s love
- desire to read the Bible
- the peace of forgiveness
- ability to defeat sin
- improving attitudes
- caring for others
15 min