Your Story For God's Gloryনমুনা

The Importance of Your Story   

In the movie Freedom Writers which is based on the true story of teacher Erin Gruwell (played by Hillary Swank) and her students at Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California, we see the power of sharing our story.

Gruwell, a new teacher, has the near impossible task of teaching English to a group of at-risk students who are practically written off by other staff at the school. After hearing one heart-breaking story after another and making little to no progress, this passionate teacher had an idea.

With her own money, she bought each student a simple composition notebook and gave them one assignment. The students were to simply write in their notebook each and every day. It could be something in their lives, past or present. “You don’t have to show it to me. I just need to flip through in order to see that you did it. If you want me to read it, put it on this shelf and I’ll read them.”

The next day, almost every student left their notebook on the shelf for Mrs. Gruwell to read. It became a powerful connection between teacher & student. It also became an outlet for students to release pain they had been holding inside. Over time, a transformation began to take place in this once chaotic classroom. 

Incredible things began to take place as these hurting students would write out their stories in a journal. Eventually, these journals were compiled into a book titled, The Freedom Writers.

Now that we’ve piqued your interest, you’ll have to watch the movie to find out the rest of the story.

You might be saying to yourself, “But I don’t have much of a story to share.”

Revelation 12:11 would say otherwise…

“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” (NLT)

Defeated who? Satan. Your story of what God has done in your life can actually overcome our enemy the devil. He already knows he can’t touch the blood of the Lamb so he works overtime to tarnish our story or prevent us from sharing it with others who might be encouraged.

One way to get really good at sharing your story is to develop a consistent writing habit. What would happen if you bought a simple notebook and began writing in it for just 15 minutes each day? Would you be willing to take that step and see what happens?

As a practical first step, we want to encourage you to begin writing down a list of stories from your life. These stories can be big or small, funny or serious, common or unusual. These stories are your unique experiences.

Someone around the world is waiting to hear it.

Prayer: 

Lord, thank you that you’ve given me a story to share. Thank you for the unique experiences you’ve brought me through. Help me to have the courage to share my stories with others and watch You work in their lives. I love you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.