EFFECTIVE TESTIMONY GIVING

EFFECTIVE TESTIMONY GIVING

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ~ Mt 8:3 -4
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan ~ Luke 17:15-16

A testimony is a declaration of what the Lord has done for you, your family or others. A testimony can present one’s conversion experience or how God has worked in our lives through miracles, healing, deliverance and breakthroughs. This is mainly done in a public worship setting. It is done to encourage others to have faith in God, to declare what God can do, to give evidence of the power of God, to thank God for who he is, to express our relationship with God, to build one’s faith in Him through that experience.

However against all this background I have seen that the motive to testify is very critical and this has caused many people not to testify in the correct manner. These notes will help us to testify in an effective way.
1. Pray before you stand before the people. You are about to do Kingdom business and you need the leading of the Spirit.
2. The focus should be on the Lord and His faithfulness. Make sure you exalt the name of Jesus Christ.
3. Emphasise the role of Jesus Christ in your testimony. Testimony should never zero in on the arena of ‘I did this and that’ It is not in you but in Christ.
4. Don’t be vague. Get straight to the point. What is your issue? What happened? It is also not very necessary to put every pinch of the story to include complexion of the pastor who prayed for you and the color of the bus you boarded.
5. It is not very necessary to mention the name of the church you used to attend if the motive is to downplay that church as if they failed to deal with your case. You are not there to make churches clash.
6. Don’t manifest signs of bitterness in your testimony. A testimony is not a fix-him arena.
7. Never imply that you are better than those who don’t have a testimony. Some have testimonies but don’t speak.
8. By all means salvation testimonies should take precedence over material or prosperity testimony. We should hear more of, ‘I was a sinner and he delivered and saved me’
9.  Don’t be carried away by the audience. The audience may shower praises to the extent that you forget that you are giving a testimony.
10. Stick to the time you have been given. Remember testimony is part of the program with other things to do.
11. Avoid being superficial or superspiritual. It’s not necessary to try give strange or weird experience which include doubtable visions and punctuating every statement with a backing of, ‘Thus saith the Lord’
12. Do not testify to compete or outdo another testifier.
13. Avoid exaggerating or lying in the name of testimonies. Never fake a testimony. If you are not healed, you are not.
14.  Give other people opportunity to testify also what the Lord has done for them. It is not you alone whom God visits.
15. Be careful of pride as you testify.

John Museredzo is a Bible scholar and lecturer with passion to maintain spiritual order in the Church
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