Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…. 2 Timothy 1:8
Hearing testimonies from our two brothers of how the Lord had worked in their lives was so encouraging last Sunday evening. Bringing them to faith in Jesus Christ was the catalyst that began a chain of events orchestrated by God’s sovereign purposes. What a joy it was to hear how the Lord had convicted, guided and to this point in time, providentially landed them in our church family! What awesome testimonies of God dealing with two of His people.
It is a tremendous privilege to be able to articulate as a testimony, what God has done and is still doing in our lives. For the believer, we are all ‘a work in progress’ as the Spirit of God, through the Word of God sanctifies us day by day.
This brings me to an important truth about our testimonies. Our walk must match our talk. Our spoken testimonies are vital and integral to the spread of the gospel but will be of little value if those words are not balanced with our godly living. It is true that our lives are our “language in action” Jonathan Edwards said exactly this many years ago: “There is a language in actions. And in some cases the language of action is much more clear and convincing than words.” [Grace Quotes]
This aligns itself to the adage; “Actions speak louder than words” but that must never be an excuse for believers to keep silent about the “testimony of our Lord..” in our lives. After all, the apostle Paul instructs in Rom. 10:17, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. We must preach Christ verbally and also through our personal testimonies. Or put in another way, this is what J. MacArthur says on the matter: You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read, and your life is under scrutiny every day. What do others learn from you? Do they see an accurate picture of your God?[Grace Quotes]