Testimony

I shared my testimony in life group last night so I thought, why not share it here too! It is the summarised version since I only had 5 minutes to share. Maybe I would share more in future about how God has worked in different areas of my life and what God has done in my different season of life as well. Anyway, this is what I shared last night. Here it goes...

I was born in a christian family and we went to church every sunday. But as I grew older, I wanted to stop going cause it was so early in the morning and I would rather sleep in/ watch tv/ meet my friends. At that time, I had biblical knowledge but i didn’t have a personal relationship with God and going to church was just a routine. 

So, I told my close friend, who is a christian, that i wanted to stop going to church. She actually asked me to give God a second chance before I stopped going. So together we went to church. Initially I went because we were close friends and I saw it as time spent hanging out together and also because I saw the effort she was putting in to encourage me to go to church. Then slowly, as I became more receptive, I went to church because i wanted to go. The God that i only “knew” about (knowledge wise), started becoming real to me. It was a gradual process as God slowly touched me through various ways.

When I gave my life to God, I knew that my thoughts, speech and actions had to change. Of all the changes, the most obvious change would be my speech. In lower secondary, I was a typically ahlian and almost every sentence i spoke had vulgarities. I got into trouble quite a bit and have even made my teacher cry while arguing with her, and was almost suspended from school.

I then came across this verse from James 3:10-11 that says “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” I was thinking: hey, yeah that true. It doesn’t make sense that with my mouth I am praising God but at the same time, using vulgarities so carelessly. 

And so I made it a point to control my speech. It definitely wasn’t easy. And stopping the vulgarities did not happen overnight. There were days it would slip my mouth but I asked God to help me and grow my self- control. 

Another reason why I wanted to change was because I did not want to stumble others with my speech. I did not want others to think: hey, i thought she is a christian but why is she cursing and all? 

I wanted my speech to be glorifying to God and not stumbling others.

By the end of sec 2, i have already changed. And then in secondary 3-4, I was in a new class with new teachers. I remember my form teacher coming to me and said “Hey, i heard some things about from other teachers. but I have been your teacher for awhile and i don’t think you are what I heard. 

What he said really encouraged me and it remind me of a verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.”

What I just shared with you guys is only a fraction of what God has done in my life. My story is not completed just because i accepted Christ. God has continued working in my life even after I accepted Him as Lord and Saviour of my life. He has restored relationships, he has broken chains that were holding me and I believe that he will continue growing me into who He wants me to become.

To end off, I would like to say to those who have yet to have a personal relationship with God: I was born in a christian family and knew about christianity but I would not consider myself a christian then. It is only when I really opened my heart that God was able to work in me and through me. And that was when God became real to me and not just someone I heard of or read of. So I really encourage you to be open and receptive so that God may be able to speak to you and work in you.

To the brothers and sisters in Christ: Remember that when you empower others, you not only influence those you influence, but also those they influence. Like how my friend encouraged me to go to church and how it has influenced me and how because of her influence on me, how it has influenced the people around me.

Thank you for reading and God bless!