A testimony is an account of God’s work in your life. Everybody who has been born again and who is becoming like Christ has a unique, interesting, and powerful testimony, regardless of whether or not it appears spectacular.
If you’re preparing to share your testimony you want to speak about how you came to trust Christ. If you’re being baptized, you’ll also want to share why you are being baptized. A typical testimony is about 5 to 15 minutes.
You may find the guidelines below helpful as you prepare your testimony:
- Keep it honest, personal, and interesting.
- Keep pointing to Christ, not yourself (e.g., always include what it is that you believe, as well as how you came to believe it).
- Keep it focused (e.g., ask yourself what you want people to take away from your story).
- You can prepare notes/outline, but the setting is informal and your story should be conversational, not just reading your notes.
- Avoid Christian terms that are unfamiliar to the unchurched (e.g., “pagan,” “washed in the blood,” “sovereignty,” “the Lord,” “sanctification,” “saved,” and so on). Terms like these can be used, but you should explain what they mean.