4 Tips for Preparing your Testimony to Share the Gospel

I remember the first time I heard God described as “the Author of Life”. I was a huge reader, and also starting to grow a lot in my walk with God. I had this image of God writing out my story in lovely details, and knowing an ending (or lack of ending with Him) I didn’t understand yet that was full of hope and sweet promises. Isn’t it cool to think of how God knows and has authored our story – and He reads it without the details of our sin, shame and guilt. How beautiful is that?!

When God writes a story, He doesn’t make it boring. Each story is unique, beautifully written, and glorifying to God. My heart breaks when I hear people talk about becoming a Christian or their life as boring because it’s simply not true!! Think about all the movies you’ve seen when someone (young, old, whatever age) dies and then is resuscitated back to life. Were any of those moments boring?? NO!!!

Here is the beauty and truth for every Christians story:

Ephesians 2:1,4-5,8-10 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins… But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved! ... For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation – created in Christ Jesus for Good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.”

You weren’t always a Christian – you were dead once!! Sin separated us from God and made us spiritually dead (Romans 6:23). At one point you needed to choose that Jesus was (and still is) Lord and believe that His grace alone could save you from your depravity (Romans 10:9-13). That in and of itself is a beautiful story that should be told to anyone and everyone around you.

But here is the cool thing with your story – it’s written by God specifically for your life to give Him glory! No one else has your exact story, and God wants it to be shared with others. Why would God want you to share your story? First, God gets (or should get) a lot of attention from you talking about how He saved you. Second, no one can really refute your story. They may be skeptical or try to rationalize it away for themselves (and maybe even you too), but that never negates the truth of what has happened to you. Third, and very importantly, your story includes the Gospel which everyone needs to hear. Romans 10:14-17 talks about how people need to hear the Gospel in order for faith to take place, and for their faith to be in Christ. Your story can contribute to someone else’s life to go from death to life – isn’t that exciting?!?

4 Tips for Preparing your Testiomony {The Story of God's Work in your Life}

1. Make God the main character. Often when thinking about our story of grace and redemption, we fill it with a lot details that point to us more than to God. We have gotten into a bad habit of thinking that testimonies need to be exciting and full of drama. That’s not the truth! Your story that you share should be pointing back to the fact that God sent His one and only Son into the world to save us from our sin (John 3:16-17).

2. Plan and prepare your story to make it short, concise, and pointing to Christ’s redemptive work in your life.
I remember when I was a freshman in college, a lady discipling me encouraged me to write out my testimony. I was so stoked because had I written out and update my testimony on a yearly basis since I was a freshman in high school!! When I showed her my 8 page type rough draft, she didn’t even read it. She took one look at it and said, “Nope. Too long.” The next week I came back with it being 5 pages long, and she did the same thing! I started bawling and saying, “What do you want?! You’re making me cut out the cool details God has put in my life!!” She pointed out how the details weren’t bad, but that for this purpose I need to make it more focused on Christ and easy to share in 3 minutes or less. In spite of her, I wrote out my testimony in less than 3 small pages on a pad of paper, which was about a minute and a half reading it out loud! I thought, “That will teach her to make me cut my story short!!”

I still use my shorten version of my story still today! When I’m in the middle of a conversation where I can easily bring up the Gospel through what God has done in my life without it being awkward or make them feel like they have to hear every detail of my life has been one of the most useful tools in my evangelism tool box!! Write out and memorize the main points of your story in 3 minutes or less. Remember that the point isn’t you in your story, the saving grace of Jesus Christ is.

3. Avoid denominational issues and “Christianese” words.
You may have grown in up certain churches that were more legalistic, never shared the Gospel, etc. But Christians (our brothers and sister, parts of the Body of Christ) still come out of those churches and we need to be respectful of them. And those you share with that may not be Christ-followers yet may have a strong opinion toward a certain denomination. So it’s good to not to make the denomination of the church a big deal. You can describe the kind of church, if it’s necessary to your story to share, by saying phrases about the church without talking about the actual denomination. For example, “I grew up in a church that was very traditional,” or “When we would go to church I heard a lot of rules and regulations, and I felt like I couldn’t do anything right.”

Also try to avoid words that Christians throw around that only Christians understand (or maybe not fully understand). Even words like “grace” and “sin” should be substituted for words that someone who has never been to church or had much contact with Christians can understand what God has done in your life.

4. Talk about 
a. What you life was like before you accepted Christ’s gift of salvation 
b. When you heard the Gospel and what you first thought and felt about it   
c. What your life was like after receiving forgiveness from your sins.
Some of you may not know exactly when you accepted Christ, but I can guarantee that you weren't always a Christian!!  Ask questions to help you examine the fruit of your change:  If God asked you, "Why should I let you into heaven?" when did your answer go from saying something about what you need to do or did to trusting solely what Jesus did? When did you want to start obeying God? When did you see evidence of your new life in Christ? When did you start making your own decisions about your walk with God apart from your family’s decisions? 


Here is my story that you can use as an example:

“Growing up I had two views of God: 1) He was boring and 2) He was this big disciplinarian that I couldn’t please. When I was 9 or 10, I went to a camp where my view of God completely changed. One of our last nights, Papa Chuck clearly shared how I was a bad person, and the wrong things I had done were keeping me from knowing God. I knew I wasn’t a great kid, so that part didn’t surprise me. But that part that blew me away was that God sent Jesus into the world, had Him die on a cross  to make me good with God. I knew about Jesus and how He loved me, but I didn’t know that He came so my sins – my wrong doings – would be forgiven and I would be right with God!! So when I heard that if I wanted Jesus’ come into my life to take care of my sin that I would just need to ask Him to forgive me and that I trusted that His death on the cross and His rising from the grave is all I needed to make Him Lord of my life, I jumped on it!

“After that I started to establish some key characteristics of God. He loved me, he rescued me from a destination headed toward Hell to a destination in Heaven with Him, He had the time to listen to me, and He would never leave me alone. I haven’t had the easiest journey since that day. My mom died of cancer soon after I made that decision to put my trust in Christ. I have often felt lonely, afraid, separated from God and others, and have even doubted whether I was truly forgiven from the wrong I had done and was doing. But because of the truth about who God really is, I have had peace, answers to my questions, and confidence in my position with God. Nothing can separate me from the love of God, and that’s the view of God I now hold onto.”

I don’t always say this word for word, but I do use bits and pieces when the moments come up. It’s easy to tie in your story to other people’s stories in a respectful, loving, nonabrasive manner.

Dear Lord Jesus, THANK YOU for saving my life!! Thank you for the story you have written that is full of hope, peace and promises!! I pray that you will continue to help me to prepare the parts of this story so others can know Who you really are. Let my story be used to bring you glory, show your character, and bring people – including me – to the foot of the cross. In your name I pray.

About Leah

Leah works with Master Plan Ministries at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. Other than watching college students' lives change, she enjoys getting her mind blown by God and His Word, watching sci fi, baking cupcakes, and spending time with her hunky husband. 

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