40acts: Ready to ActSample

Act 26: Your Story

Have you ever thought that your life may be the only Bible someone reads? Telling your testimony could kick-start someone’s own journey into faith or encourage them to keep going when they’re struggling. It doesn’t have to be sensational or filled with miracles. Try weaving simple stories into your conversations, sharing how your faith affects your life. You’ll be amazed at what they can open up. 

Right in the middle of the Bible, the apostle John cheekily writes himself into his own book. John 13:23 is usually understood as John, the author, revealing a startling insight into Jesus’ and his friendship: ‘One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.’ John was secure enough in Jesus’ love to directly reference that moment in his own book. There are some goals there for all of us.

And what this tells us is remarkable. John wrote not just this moment but his entire book out of that relationship. At the core of why he wrote was this friendship. His gospel account of the life of Jesus wasn’t just a rote record of events. He clearly took to heart a friendship that had changed him, and he told his story because he couldn’t help but tell everyone.

For today’s act, we’re thinking about sharing our testimony. As you think about your own story with God, take heart that, just as every relationship is unique, your relationship with God will be like no one else’s. God wanted you alive because he dreamt a relationship with you that no one else could live. So, as you share your story, God will impact people in a way no one else’s story could. Your testimony will bring unique fruit that someone else’s wouldn’t. 

Share from your closeness with Jesus, secure enough in his love to brag about it to whoever you meet. Just like the four different gospel accounts in the Bible – four friends of Jesus with lives changed in unique ways, with unique stories to tell – so is your story of encountering Jesus’ love, and it’s yours only to tell.