Your Story Can Change a Life
"Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me all that I ever did.'” John 4:39
A pastor recently shared a story with me about a woman who attended his church for the first time with her adult son. She came with her son because of her curiosity about the major changes she observed in his life when he became a Jesus follower. Our testimonies, visually and verbally, are powerful tools that God often uses to attract others to himself.
The woman in the story from John 4 followed a daily routine of going for water at the well at a time of day when the other women of the town would not be there. She did not have friends among the women of the town. Her reputation was ruined because she had been rejected by five different men who had been so dissatisfied with her as a wife they gave her certificates of divorce. Her life was most likely a miserable existence because nobody in town wanted to associate with her. However, one meeting with Jesus changed everything for this woman. After the encounter with Jesus the woman became so excited she left her water jug and ran back to town to tell everyone about the man she had met while retrieving water from the well. Her first action was to take the good news of the Messiah to the people who had mistreated her and rejected her.
She started her testimony with the connecting point she had with the townspeople. They all knew her reputation. So, she started her presentation with these words: "He told me all that I ever did." Now everyone is listening because they see the change in her demeanor, her forgiveness of them, and her enthusiasm for the news she has to share. Everyone noticed when this woman who avoided people and kept to herself is suddenly emboldened to talk about her past and tell them about the change Jesus has made in her.
Sometimes our testimonies are lived out among the people who know us best and they are impacted by the changes they see Jesus has made in our lives. At other times we get to tell our story about what we were like and what changed when we had an encounter with Jesus. Either way our testimony is a powerful tool to use in getting other people started on the path of becoming disciples of Jesus.
