Do You Feel As If You Had to Have Taken Drugs in Order to Have a Good Testimony?
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No. There was one point at which I had that thought for a brief moment, but I banished it quickly, and won't let it return.
I don't consider anyone to be born a Christian, which is why we must be born again. We must believe and choose Christ, that is what makes us a Christian. And that is what a Testimony is about, what he did for us.
I've never done drugs, and I've never had an alcoholic beverage in my life. I was blessed with two Christian parents, who shared with me, from a young age, the Bible, and who Jesus was. I accepted Jesus when I was 4, and it is the best decision I've ever made. I'm not who I was, nor am I who I would have been without Christ. I'm far from perfect, and I have struggles and hardship, but God is faithful, and he has never left my side. He has kept his word. Without him, I don't know where I would be, but I doubt I'd even be a shadow of who I am today.
I believe these types of testimonies are so important, because they show that God doesn't just save the drug users and alcoholics, but everyone. Imagine the difference in impact it could make for someone who is in a similar position to mine, but hasn't yet made that decision. There is nothing vanilla about the way that God loved me.
And for the record, whenever you do add something I find it very valuable, especially when what you are sharing is like a giant arrow pointing to what God has done in your life.
It is sad when this happens, and I have seen it happen in different churches. It always seemed weird to me. Not everyone's situation is the same. It is important though, what they do with that situation. I think this is a very dangerous path to go down. When we start making this comparisons, we putting the focus on the people, and not on what Jesus did for the people.
No. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Acts 10:34-35
A “true” Christian, is someone who has confessed with their mouth and believed in their heart that Jesus is Lord.
I don't consider anyone to be born a Christian, which is why we must be born again. We must believe and choose Christ, that is what makes us a Christian. And that is what a Testimony is about, what he did for us.
I've never done drugs, and I've never had an alcoholic beverage in my life. I was blessed with two Christian parents, who shared with me, from a young age, the Bible, and who Jesus was. I accepted Jesus when I was 4, and it is the best decision I've ever made. I'm not who I was, nor am I who I would have been without Christ. I'm far from perfect, and I have struggles and hardship, but God is faithful, and he has never left my side. He has kept his word. Without him, I don't know where I would be, but I doubt I'd even be a shadow of who I am today.
I believe these types of testimonies are so important, because they show that God doesn't just save the drug users and alcoholics, but everyone. Imagine the difference in impact it could make for someone who is in a similar position to mine, but hasn't yet made that decision. There is nothing vanilla about the way that God loved me.
And for the record, whenever you do add something I find it very valuable, especially when what you are sharing is like a giant arrow pointing to what God has done in your life.
It is sad when this happens, and I have seen it happen in different churches. It always seemed weird to me. Not everyone's situation is the same. It is important though, what they do with that situation. I think this is a very dangerous path to go down. When we start making this comparisons, we putting the focus on the people, and not on what Jesus did for the people.
No. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Acts 10:34-35
A “true” Christian, is someone who has confessed with their mouth and believed in their heart that Jesus is Lord.
I have a testimony which I've only shared with two people. And people who tell me they've been inspired or motivated by me or my life, have not heard about it. I think the point it, as great it is to have a life changing testimony, we ARE living testimonies.
I used to have wonder about that for a long long time (and I mean 8-9 years) because every time I was in a youth camp or something, people ask for testimonies and what I tell them was how our family got together. After that, I always think it wasn't MY testimony, it was my parents' or our family testimony. And I asked God what my testimony was. Not exactly prayed for it, but mentioned it when I was lost in thoughts. So, yeah I got my testimony (and I still find it too sensitive to share xD) but living every day is a testimony in itself. Our very lives, actually.
Also, there's a guy I know (well not really know like know, he's a famous preacher), Andrew Wommack, he says he's never gone through what most people are going through today like drugs, fornication, other forms of addiction, etc., never had terminal disease but grew up a church boy and just lived 'normal' - That is what he shares as his testimony.
I used to have wonder about that for a long long time (and I mean 8-9 years) because every time I was in a youth camp or something, people ask for testimonies and what I tell them was how our family got together. After that, I always think it wasn't MY testimony, it was my parents' or our family testimony. And I asked God what my testimony was. Not exactly prayed for it, but mentioned it when I was lost in thoughts. So, yeah I got my testimony (and I still find it too sensitive to share xD) but living every day is a testimony in itself. Our very lives, actually.
Also, there's a guy I know (well not really know like know, he's a famous preacher), Andrew Wommack, he says he's never gone through what most people are going through today like drugs, fornication, other forms of addiction, etc., never had terminal disease but grew up a church boy and just lived 'normal' - That is what he shares as his testimony.
C
Oh yes that's an amazing testimony from Andrew Wommack.
He once went to the big city and there were hookers and pimps and he had no idea. He thought: Wow! That's nice! There are so many people here on the street! So he gave them tracts. Then he came to the place where he stayed with some other guys and they had to explain it to him.
So funny.
He once went to the big city and there were hookers and pimps and he had no idea. He thought: Wow! That's nice! There are so many people here on the street! So he gave them tracts. Then he came to the place where he stayed with some other guys and they had to explain it to him.
So funny.
i've never done drugs. never drank alcohol. i was always the good kid. i never wanted to get in trouble.
i thank God i grew up in a christian home. sure, we had problems, but my parents always showed us kids what it was to pray and depend on God.
although i didn't do any of the "bad" stuff, my testimony is on how God healed me from low self-esteem i don't feel it's a "lesser" testimony.
i thank God i grew up in a christian home. sure, we had problems, but my parents always showed us kids what it was to pray and depend on God.
although i didn't do any of the "bad" stuff, my testimony is on how God healed me from low self-esteem
i don't feel it's a "lesser" testimony. 
I think a lot of people can have great testimonies even if they have lived their lives mostly on the straight and narrow. Mine on the other hand would be kind of a dull testimony although I have a lot of sinful behavior in my past - my sinful behavior isn't what led me to Christ, my curiosity did that. I do know that I've been working very hard to turn from my sinful ways since becoming saved and while it is sometimes difficult, I don't think I achieved anything special just because I was a former user of illegal drugs and did all kinds of other sinful things.
I identify with this so much Seoul. And part of the conclusion I have come to is that for the most part we want to present a storyline of success the "God will make your life better" story is good marketing. But that means that there isn't a lot of room in our PR for the people we prayed for that didn't get healed or recover from their addictions nor do the people who've always been good (according to the standards of the church) get much praise for their faithfulness (they're just kind of expected to never fall and sail through troubles). We also don't tell the stories of the good christians who after years of faithfulness suffer some tragedy that God didn't protect them from and have to walk out their faith with huge doubts and questions.
And the dichotomy that exists in Christian attitudes on this subject is huge, like the ideal is the born a Christian raised in church etc. but they either don't believe anyone like that exists or think that such people would have no further need of instruction because so much Christian teaching isn't relevant to them. They don't have a sinful life before Christ to think back to and be grateful for being rescued from, nor can they be very clear about how becoming a Christian changed their life because they've never known another life. And oftentimes I feel like other Christians can do as much to stifle my growth as promote it because I often pick up the attitude that what God is trying to work on in me isn't a sin big enough to count (best example would be when I was in University and one of my friends felt that God was convicting him that he shouldn't speed anymore while driving, and the other Christian guys we were friends with teased him so much about how slow he would have to go and how long it would take to get places etc. making his conviction at best a big joke).
So all that I guess is to let everyone know that while we are grateful to have been spared so much pain and suffering and deep wounds, the life of those of us who have the "God and life have always been good to us" testimony isn't without it's own challenges and often we feel very alone and unsupported especially in churches where it feels like we're not sinful enough to be ministered to and not experienced enough to relate to the big issues people have that we long to see healed. I think that's more of what Seoul was trying to get across and it certainly is my experience and something that's been even more difficult with the difficulties of returning home after 3 years living overseas.
And the dichotomy that exists in Christian attitudes on this subject is huge, like the ideal is the born a Christian raised in church etc. but they either don't believe anyone like that exists or think that such people would have no further need of instruction because so much Christian teaching isn't relevant to them. They don't have a sinful life before Christ to think back to and be grateful for being rescued from, nor can they be very clear about how becoming a Christian changed their life because they've never known another life. And oftentimes I feel like other Christians can do as much to stifle my growth as promote it because I often pick up the attitude that what God is trying to work on in me isn't a sin big enough to count (best example would be when I was in University and one of my friends felt that God was convicting him that he shouldn't speed anymore while driving, and the other Christian guys we were friends with teased him so much about how slow he would have to go and how long it would take to get places etc. making his conviction at best a big joke).
So all that I guess is to let everyone know that while we are grateful to have been spared so much pain and suffering and deep wounds, the life of those of us who have the "God and life have always been good to us" testimony isn't without it's own challenges and often we feel very alone and unsupported especially in churches where it feels like we're not sinful enough to be ministered to and not experienced enough to relate to the big issues people have that we long to see healed. I think that's more of what Seoul was trying to get across and it certainly is my experience and something that's been even more difficult with the difficulties of returning home after 3 years living overseas.
