Can someone please read my testimony?

So long as it is true it is perfect.

I do not see any reference to the Savior --the Lord Jesus Christ as your hope. Are you "born again" by receiving the Lord Jesus into your heart? Please consider John 14 and John 3 and see if you are truly a "child of God by the new birth. Salvation is not about believing in God or professing Him, but possessing the Son of God. Be sure you have the Lord Jesus in your heart as God says in 1 Jn. 5:10-12. Read all of the Gospels to see God's ways. I will be praying for you. I don't know if I misunderstood you.

I question if such a paper as you propose should even be given to a church group. Write me anytime if you wish to chat a bit. Trust the Lord!

Any good testimony should have three sections in it: before salvation, how you got saved, and after you received salvation. All three sections are present here. Bravo!

I've made some changes to your testimony. Let me know what you think!

"I grew up in a Christian family and learned a lot ‘about’ God at a young age. I used to think that it was okay to attend a weekly Church service and know ‘about’ the Christian faith. This attitude was unsatisfying, as it prevented me from having a personal relationship with God.

I realized that knowing 'about' God and His Word would never be satisfying, because my sinful nature was stopping me from knowing God personally.

So I asked my Heavenly Father to forgive my sins; acknowledging that He sent Jesus into the world to save us all from the consequences of sin. I committed myself to God and His plans for my life; offering all of my gifts and abilities to God for His purposes. I repented of my sins and put my trust in Jesus Christ.

Since then, I have been able to form a personal relationship with Jesus. I am now dependent upon God and His love for me; knowing that He has plans for me in my life. Although I have a long way to go, and so much to learn, I am a better [man/woman] because of Jesus."

One final thought. If you plan to use this testimony in a non-church setting (say, to an unbelieving friend), I would consider changing the "church-y" language to something more palatable to an unbeliever. For example, instead of "sin" you could say "lawbreaking." Instead of "repented" you could say "confessed my lawbreaking". Something to consider for the future.

Might i add brother, that reading the Psalms is a fountain of blessings regarding testimonies...David gave his testimonies all the time, and they included praise and adoration and how he was thankful and loved God with all his heart because of how God pulled him out of the pit and preserved him against great odds......of course our testimonies might not be quite the same, but maybe speaking on how thankful you are to God that He loves you and how He has shown you that He does.

I hope this helps a little.

God bless you.

Paul gives his testimony in Acts 9, Acts 22, and Acts 26... Something that is precious to all of us!

YozJif said:

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I have made a few changes based on your feedback, and I feel that my testimony is more appropriate to share now.

"Because I’ve grown up in a Christian family, I’ve learned a lot ‘about’ God from a young age. I used to think that it was okay to attend Church once a week and know ‘about’ God and his love for me. Instead of putting God first in my life, I valued the materialistic and basically ignored God and His love for me.

Living with this attitude was unsatisfying, as it caused me to feel separated from God and prevented me from knowing Him personally.

Eventually I realised that my sinful nature was preventing me from getting close to God. I asked God to forgive my sins; acknowledging that He sent Jesus into the world to save us all from the consequences of sin. I repented of my sins and put my trust in Jesus; committing myself to Him and His plans for my life. I stopped trying to direct my own life and put God in charge.

I now have a strong relationship with God and I depend upon His love for me every day. I no longer value the materialistic items of this world; as my values have changed and serving God is now my priority.

I know that I am not perfect, and I admit that I make mistakes sometimes. However, I know that God has always loved me and will continue to love me; regardless of my imperfections."

Should I change anything else?

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Nope, not a word. All the pieces are there. Bravo!

YozJif said:

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I have made a few changes based on your feedback, and I feel that my testimony is more appropriate to share now.

"Because I’ve grown up in a Christian family, I’ve learned a lot ‘about’ God from a young age. I used to think that it was okay to attend Church once a week and know ‘about’ God and his love for me. Instead of putting God first in my life, I valued the materialistic and basically ignored God and His love for me.

Living with this attitude was unsatisfying, as it caused me to feel separated from God and prevented me from knowing Him personally.

Eventually I realised that my sinful nature was preventing me from getting close to God. I asked God to forgive my sins; acknowledging that He sent Jesus into the world to save us all from the consequences of sin. I repented of my sins and put my trust in Jesus; committing myself to Him and His plans for my life. I stopped trying to direct my own life and put God in charge.

I now have a strong relationship with God and I depend upon His love for me every day. I no longer value the materialistic items of this world; as my values have changed and serving God is now my priority.

I know that I am not perfect, and I admit that I make mistakes sometimes. However, I know that God has always loved me and will continue to love me; regardless of my imperfections."

Should I change anything else?

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Looks good to me, and is a good testimony to the whole gathering. Put the Lord Jesus first in everything and you will do well (note 2 Cor. 10:5 KJV).

YozJif said:

I'm getting baptised soon, and I have recently struggled with writing my testimony to present to my Church congregation. I understand that a testimony is a personal thing, and that you can't really write it incorrectly. However, I would really appreciate it if someone could read my testimony and suggest any additions/changes that need to be made.

"Because I’ve grown up in a Christian family, I’ve learned a lot ‘about’ God from a young age. I used to think that it was okay to attend a weekly Church service and know ‘about’ the Christian faith. This attitude was unsatisfying, as it prevented me from having a personal relationship with God.

I eventually realized that knowing about God and his Word would never be satisfying, because my sinful nature was stopping me from knowing God personally.

So I asked God to forgive my sins; acknowledging that He sent Jesus into the world to save us all from sin. I committed myself to God and his plans for my life; offering all of my gifts and abilities to God for His purposes.

Since repenting of my sins, I have been able to form a personal relationship with God. I am now dependent upon God and His love for me; knowing that He has plans for me in life."

Thanks for your help

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Welcome to the Family of God My Brother,

Your testimony is well written and very precise in it's structure and wording. I have several friends, and a wife of 32 years that God gifted to me, who were all involved in church from an early age. My wife and one other are PK's (preacher's kids). I am a grafted in PK by love and marriage. With that said. I recruit testimonies for God. I built a website for Him for just this reason. www.RealPeopleRealTestimonies.Com, By your faith you are fulfilling a prophesy as well from Revelation 12:11b. Jesus did His part, now we are doing our part. I only tell you this because testimonies are from the heart due to very emotional situations God carries us through. I have witnessed that individuals who grew up in the church have, let's say less colorful testimonies than those that came from dire lives, stained and scared by the world. This however does not take away one bit from the Gift of, or the need for Salvation through Grace (Love of God), or Christ's sacrifice of blood and flesh on our behalf that you, I, and everyone saved receives.
My only recommendation would be to show your emotions, and maybe become a tad bit vulnerable in your writing.
May God's will be dominant always in our lives my Brother-in-Christ Jesus. Amen

YozJif said:

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I have made a few changes based on your feedback, and I feel that my testimony is more appropriate to share now.

"Because I’ve grown up in a Christian family, I’ve learned a lot ‘about’ God from a young age. I used to think that it was okay to attend Church once a week and know ‘about’ God and his love for me. Instead of putting God first in my life, I valued the materialistic and basically ignored God and His love for me.

Living with this attitude was unsatisfying, as it caused me to feel separated from God and prevented me from knowing Him personally.

Eventually I realised that my sinful nature was preventing me from getting close to God. I asked God to forgive my sins; acknowledging that He sent Jesus into the world to save us all from the consequences of sin. I repented of my sins and put my trust in Jesus; committing myself to Him and His plans for my life. I stopped trying to direct my own life and put God in charge.

I now have a strong relationship with God and I depend upon His love for me every day. I no longer value the materialistic items of this world; as my values have changed and serving God is now my priority.

I know that I am not perfect, and I admit that I make mistakes sometimes. However, I know that God has always loved me and will continue to love me; regardless of my imperfections."

Should I change anything else?

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That's a great testimony! Good job writing it. I feel like in my experience a lot of people in the church live the way your first paragraph describes.
Thanks for posting & God bless.