Why testify or give a testimony?

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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#1
#1
I've seen a lot of posts in the Testimony section and I am curious why people share this kind of information. Could someone explain it to me? By explain, I mean explain it using your own words. I've had enough Bible thrown at me today to last me a year. If I want to read scripture, I've got 5 bibles to choose from. Why do people give their testimony about how they came to Christ? What do you, as a reader, get from reading another person's testimony?

Yes, this is a strange question, but I honestly don't understand it. Most of what people do is just completely confusing to me but that's because I have so little experience around other people.
 
Blain

Blain

The Word Weaver
#2
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#2
Sharing your testimony what you have gone through who you were what you overcame how God helped you gives encouragement to others and helps them to know they are not alone in their struggles. Mine is a sad and painful one but many have told me how it has blessed them and how they were encouraged to know they were not the only ones who know pain.

A testimony is not really for the one who writes it it's for those who read it, it's not about getting something out of it it's about giving something from it
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#3
#3
Blain said:
Sharing your testimony what you have gone through who you were what you overcame how God helped you gives encouragement to others and helps them to know they are not alone in their struggles. Mine is a sad and painful one but many have told me how it has blessed them and how they were encouraged to know they were not the only ones who know pain.

A testimony is not really for the one who writes it it's for those who read it, it's not about getting something out of it it's about giving something from it
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Interesting perspective. Thank you. Anyone (almost anyone) else have something to contribute?
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#4
#4
I'm going to double post because I can.

Do people giving their testimonies feel some sense of release by sharing their story with others? Do they worry about being judged for their stories (this is a VERY judgmental place)? Do people feel they are doing something good by sharing something so personal with the rest of the forums and the world?

It's curious to me. I'm keep most of my faith close to my vest because every time I share anything I am set on like a lame cat in a room full of dogs, and my own story of how I became a Christian is just way too personal to share with people I don't know. Even my own family doesn't know, so I'm interested how other people have the courage to just let it all out.
 
Blain

Blain

The Word Weaver
#5
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#5
Shpadoinkle said:
I'm going to double post because I can.

Do people giving their testimonies feel some sense of release by sharing their story with others? Do they worry about being judged for their stories (this is a VERY judgmental place)? Do people feel they are doing something good by sharing something so personal with the rest of the forums and the world?

It's curious to me. I'm keep most of my faith close to my vest because every time I share anything I am set on like a lame cat in a room full of dogs, and my own story of how I became a Christian is just way too personal to share with people I don't know. Even my own family doesn't know, so I'm interested how other people have the courage to just let it all out.
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You don't have to share it now if you don't want too, but if you keep everything to yourself and never learn to share and experience things with others you won't make it very far.

Even the strongest of warriors eventually reach their limit and fall, if a lone warrior falls and has not the strength to get back up he will wither but the truly strong are not strong because they themselves are strong but rather because they have others to help them to build them up to encourage them to comfort them to keep the standing when they are growing weak and begin to fall.

I always speak my heart especially so on this forum and it's both a blessing and a curse because while many times God will speak through me and spark a flame in others I also get attacked sometimes pretty severely, I have had much pain and much trials in my life I have wounds and scars that I have never recovered from scars of the heart wounds of the soul that still are not even close to being mended.

I am told by many I am strong and even though I can't see myself as that if I am strong it's only because I have a mental image in my mind everyday, I can go all out in faith I be reckless and abandon without the fear of growing weak and breaking or falling and not getting back up because if I begin to fall backwards from weariness or the harshness of life I see two scared hands supporting my back but not just those hands but man many others as well and these are the hands of my friends on cc.
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#6
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#6
Shpadoinkle said:
I'm going to double post because I can.

Do people giving their testimonies feel some sense of release by sharing their story with others? Do they worry about being judged for their stories (this is a VERY judgmental place)? Do people feel they are doing something good by sharing something so personal with the rest of the forums and the world?

It's curious to me. I'm keep most of my faith close to my vest because every time I share anything I am set on like a lame cat in a room full of dogs, and my own story of how I became a Christian is just way too personal to share with people I don't know. Even my own family doesn't know, so I'm interested how other people have the courage to just let it all out.
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If I told you that I suffered for decades with social anxiety, and discovered a once-a-day pill that completely relieved me of that agony............................................ Wouldn't you feel it was pretty crappy of me if I withheld that information from you?

That's the way we feel about what we believe is the answer to a lot of things in our lives. And we tell about our lives during those times of heartache and pain, in the hopes that someone else may see our words, and say to themselves, "If they beat this thing, maybe I can, too."

It's just that simple. No need to try to imagine something else into someone telling their story.
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#7
#7
Okay, well I think that answers all the questions I had. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

This is obviously not the right atmosphere for me to be in. Can I delete my account or do I need to request that be done by a staff member?
 
MultilingualMessenger

MultilingualMessenger

Senior Member
#8
Jan 27, 2015
2,690
367
83
#8
Shpadoinkle said:
I've seen a lot of posts in the Testimony section and I am curious why people share this kind of information. Could someone explain it to me? By explain, I mean explain it using your own words. I've had enough Bible thrown at me today to last me a year. If I want to read scripture, I've got 5 bibles to choose from. Why do people give their testimony about how they came to Christ? What do you, as a reader, get from reading another person's testimony?

Yes, this is a strange question, but I honestly don't understand it. Most of what people do is just completely confusing to me but that's because I have so little experience around other people.
Click to expand...
I've heard it worded this way and it made sense to me: in testimony, there's a spirit of prophecy. Meaning, if it happened for the person telling the story, it lets the listener know that it can happen for them too. :)
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#9
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#9
Ya simply quit posting. Just like a "testimony", you don't have to make a dramatic production of it.
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#10
#10
MultilingualMessenger said:
I've heard it worded this way and it made sense to me: in testimony, there's a spirit of prophecy. Meaning, if it happened for the person telling the story, it lets the listener know that it can happen for them too. :)
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That's an interesting way of thinking about it.
 
H

Hellooo

Guest
#11
#11
You need to put in a request.

I'd encourage you to challenge yourself and stick around even if you're irritated at the responses you've gotten. A little conflict might lead you to some answers, or growth or something.
Or maybe not.
But you've nothing to lose by participating.
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#12
#12
I put in my request a couple of minutes ago. I'm not going to get anything out of being here so I might as well just leave. It's not worth trying to find out if this place could do something for me. Nothing else does. I'm never going to like people, and interacting with them is just frustration.

In the mean time until I am deleted, I did think of another question. Are there a lot of non-Christians on this site that read the testimonies do you think? I wonder if reading about somebody's experience is a motivator for them?
 
Blain

Blain

The Word Weaver
#13
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#13
Shpadoinkle said:
I put in my request a couple of minutes ago. I'm not going to get anything out of being here so I might as well just leave. It's not worth trying to find out if this place could do something for me. Nothing else does. I'm never going to like people, and interacting with them is just frustration.

In the mean time until I am deleted, I did think of another question. Are there a lot of non-Christians on this site that read the testimonies do you think? I wonder if reading about somebody's experience is a motivator for them?
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Idk if it's a motivator for all for them but I'm sure it is for some or at least encouraging
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#14
#14
Blain said:
Idk if it's a motivator for all for them but I'm sure it is for some or at least encouraging
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Also interesting. Confusing why, but interesting. I've read a few and they didn't do anything for me, but I don't have much of a human heart so I'm really not one to talk about how they affected me emotionally, but some of them were interesting to read about how people came to know Christ. Lots of different pathways.
 
MultilingualMessenger

MultilingualMessenger

Senior Member
#15
Jan 27, 2015
2,690
367
83
#15
Shpadoinkle said:
Also interesting. Confusing why, but interesting. I've read a few and they didn't do anything for me, but I don't have much of a human heart so I'm really not one to talk about how they affected me emotionally, but some of them were interesting to read about how people came to know Christ. Lots of different pathways.
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Yeah, not every testimony will speak to you in a personal way, but there's one for everyone. :) Hopefully someone's will speak to you.
 
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Tintin

Guest
#16
#16
Sounds like you need some good Christian counselling to reinvigorate that heart of stone you say that you have.
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#17
#17
MultilingualMessenger said:
Yeah, not every testimony will speak to you in a personal way, but there's one for everyone. :) Hopefully someone's will speak to you.
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Maybe, but even if one did, it still wouldn't get me to tell my own story. No way I'm going to be that vulnerable. I've already shared more about myself than I am comfortable with, which is a part of the reason I am jumping ship. It's not a major reason - the major reason is I don't like some people here and I just don't want to be anywhere around them, but I still have shared way too much to feel comfortable any longer.
 
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Shpadoinkle

Guest
#18
#18
Tintin said:
Sounds like you need some good Christian counselling to reinvigorate that heart of stone you say that you have.
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Not sure where I'd fit that in the schedule with my mental health counseling and physical therapy sessions, but thank you for the suggestion.
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#19
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#19
Tintin said:
Sounds like you need some good Christian counselling to reinvigorate that heart of stone you say that you have.
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The "Christian" part would just be a further excuse to avoid letting counseling work. If he really wanted help, he would have looked for non-Christian help long ago, and instead of just saying he goes, there would be some improvement.. After all, he's already 31.
 
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Tintin

Guest
#20
#20
Shpadoinkle said:
Not sure where I'd fit that in the schedule with my mental health counseling and physical therapy sessions, but thank you for the suggestion.
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You're welcome. Is the mental health counselling doing anything for you though? I find many counsellors treat the symptoms and not the source and that doesn't provide a long-term solution.
 
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