The power of our testimony

Ellis had been sharing gospel tracts during an outreach organized by his church. A man came along, and he handed him a tract. The man collected it and slowed down to read it, so, Ellis quickly struck a conversation with him.

“Do you know who Jesus is?”, Ellis asked.

“He is a spiritual leader”, the man replied, and continued to read the tract.

“Yes, true. So, who is Jesus to you?”, Ellis asked again.

“Er…. I am not sure”, the man replied.

“Ok, I will tell you who Jesus is to me. He is my friend, my Saviour, He guides me……” Ellis explained.

The man handed back the tract to Ellis. “You can keep this, please”.

“May I ask why?”, Ellis asked.

“It’s too hard to read”, the man said.

“How do you mean?” asked Ellis.

The man pointed to the bible reference written on the tract. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

Ellis then explained to him that we were all born with the nature of sin. He shared what his life looked like before he experienced the saving grace of Jesus. He used to practice most of those things listed in Galatians 5:19-21. But after his salvation experience, he lost interest in doing those things. The grace of God empowers him daily to say “no” to the works of the flesh.

“Oh, I see. Can I have the pamphlet back, please?”, the man said.

When the woman of Samaria, whom Jesus met by Jacob’s well, left speaking with Jesus; she went into the city and called out to everyone, “come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). Many people followed her to see Jesus. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did” (John 4:39).

The testimony of our salvation – the grace we received through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross – is a powerful tool in bringing many to know and accept Him. Sometimes, people need to hear and see examples of lives that have been changed by grace, lives that were destined for destruction but have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Our testimony reassures them that redemption is possible, that no one is beyond redemption, that forgiveness is still freely available, and that the power of sin can be broken when a sinner accepts and believes in what Jesus did on the cross.