The Sword of Your Testimony
January 4, 2010
by Sandi Sanford
What if you could set someone free with just a word?
Revelations 12:11 says, “They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.”
Have you ever heard someone’s story and thought, “If God can do that for them, He can do it for me?”
Sometimes the testimonies we hear aren’t eloquent or pretty. But our stories don’t need to be fancied up. It is the honesty and humility of our personal experiences that hit home.
Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians (1:2-5), “1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
If he’d come with a fabulous, pristine voice and professional presentation the people may have thought he was a wonderful speaker. They may have thought he was special. But when he came to them as he was, the glory was God’s.
If we polish our flaws and hide the horse we road in on, people not only won’t hear how the blood of Jesus literally changed us, they’ll think we are smug and arrogant. Throw perfection out the window! It’s unrealistic and not very inviting.
The Samaritan woman at the well had a testimony. She met Jesus and He knew everything she’d ever done. She likely was not happy about that, as her life made her an outcast in her day. But He didn’t turn away from her. Somehow in talking with Jesus, she was transformed from a woman shunned by her people to a woman with a message. The Samaritans eagerly accepted Jesus because of her testimony. They heard the message of salvation from someone who had experienced it.
John 4:28-30
28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29″Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
John 4:39-42
39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.
42They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
By speaking up, she led many to the Messiah. What if she’d remained silent?
A testimony is like a sword. In our hands our story is sharp, powerful, and custom-made. I misquoted Revelations 12:11 as “the sword of their testimony” to a friend once. I looked it up later and was surprised it didn’t say sword. I was so sure it did! I was a little embarrassed at the time, but now I think it makes a powerful point and a wonderful image. Our stories are more than words. They are the power by which we overcome. But we don’t just overcome for ourselves, we have others to set free too.
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