Your testimony about how you were brought to life in Christ is invaluable—do not hesitate to share it nor refrain from hearing it from others! It can work wonders in both you and the hearts and minds of others, so let grace the ears of all!.

“… consider the testimony of others. The Samaritans believed because of what the woman told them concerning Jesus (Joh 4:39). Many of our beliefs arise out of the testimony of others. I believe that there is such a country as Japan; I never saw it, and yet I believe that there is such a place because others have been there. I believe that I shall die; I have never died, but a great many have done so whom I once knew, and therefore I have a conviction that I shall die also. The testimony of many convinces me of that fact. Listen, then, to those who tell you how they were saved, how they were pardoned, how they were changed in character. If you will look into the matter you will find that somebody just like yourself has been saved. If you have been a thief, you will find that a thief rejoiced to wash away his sin in the fountain of Christ’s blood. If unhappily you have been unchaste, you will find that men and women who have fallen in that way have been cleansed and changed. If you are in despair, you have only to get among God’s people, and inquire a little, and you will discover that some of the saints have been equally in despair at times and they will be pleased to tell you how the Lord delivered them.”

Excerpt From
All of Grace
Charles H. Spurgeon
https://books.apple.com/us/book/all-of-grace/id1014243511
This material may be protected by copyright.

What is your testimony?

Thank you for asking!
I sin because I’m a sinner, and I have sinned so much.

I was not born into a Christian household/family. My home and family was broken by the affairs and fornications of my father, and the mental illness and love of money by my mother—not only as I entered this world but also a number of different times in my youth. As a kid, and into my teens, I was very hostile and antagonistic toward Christians, as well as peers in general. I really enjoyed hurting other people by insulting or criticizing them, especially if it made others laugh at my victim’s expense. Much of my youth was spent belittling my classmates, hurting my brother (physically and emotionally), enraging my family, and getting attention by causing pain.
At ten years-old, I was introduced to pornography by my dad after discovering and becoming curious about his magazines under his bed. He told me it was okay to look at porn, encouraged me not to refrain from looking at what he called “natural”, and thus began a terrible journey on a path of lust, which I still battle against now (twenty-five years later).
In my late-teens, I was introduced to alcohol and marijuana through “friends”. It set the stage for me believing this was worthwhile/normal/needed to have relationships with people; and this type of sinning persisted throughout most of my life thereafter, until a little before I had my second son six months ago. I spent many years clouding my mind with some alcohol and a lot of marijuana, essentially trading the truth for a lie, sacrificing God’s gifts for temporary gratification. After seventeen years, none of the people I drank and smoked with are in my life. I woke up one day to realize the friendships I had were an illusion maintained by superficial activity involving alcohol/marijuana/partying, nothing more.

My first significant experience with Christianity was being invited to attend church with my mom at around twelve years-old. I was reluctant but after some convincing, I decided to check it out. It took a few times attending youth group service before I had an intimate mind/heart changing experience by the Holy Spirit.
Like I said before, I was a real jerk and hypercritical of others at this point in my life. There was another kid around my age attending youth group and I thought very critically of him as a dork, beneath me, and not worthy. Late into the evening during worship, the youth pastor encouraged all of many of us to join together, arms locked with hands on each other's shoulders, and to sing to the Lord. The lights were turned off, and I felt an arm on me from the left and the right—I hesitated to do the same but let my guard down, locked arms and swayed with the strangers in arms. I sang my heart out, never before had I felt so embraced, so together with others, so spiritually moved. As the worship ended, the lights came on, and to my left, arms on each other’s backs, was the kid I thought so poorly of. It opened my mind and my heart immediately; I knew then he was valuable, worthy, and just like me—in need of Christ.

This was the starting point in it being revealed to me I am a sinner, I could find joy in being a peacemaker and embracing others, and despite my wretchedness, Christ died for me when I was without strength.

(To Be Continued, If Wanted)

God Bless

This post was edited by WizardKiller on Nov 22 2022 11:18pm

Thank you for sharing! I think your testimony is very touching. I'm in the process of getting my baptism approved, after several years of being a believer, and I'm trying to process my thoughts and write out my own testimony for my pastor and I think for here too. I like hearing people's testimonies because how they present at the moment could be completely different than how they were before Christ, to the point of being startling. Such is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Congratulations! I hope your processing and writing goes well. It's a tremendous exercise to review one's past sins and how God, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, renewed your mind to see the truth and even attempt to change your ways. We should all be doing this more, I think! It's nothing short of miraculous for someone to admit their wrongs and be empowered to change their ways--it seems very rare but very precious when this occurs.