One of the greatest witnessing tools available to anyone is their own Christian testimony. Telling other people your own story of how you understood your need for salvation is a powerful means to witness to others around you. This does not mean that you should avoid telling them what the Bible says, but giving a clear example through your life of how God can save and change a person is a great first step in bringing someone to the Lord.

If you have not shared your testimony with others before, let me encourage you to write it out. Writing your Christian testimony will help you hone in on what is important in your story and what is not. Preparing your testimony on paper will give you a confidence that will help you when you stand before a group or share with an individual.

As a powerful witnessing tool, your testimony should simply share with the listener (or reader) the basic elements of salvation. Here are some questions that will help you think through the basics of what each testimony should include.

• How did God reveal to you that you were a sinner?
• Once you understood your condition before God, how did God begin to show you His love?
• With an understanding of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, what were the next steps you took to accept His salvation?
• Did God use one person or event to show you your need, or were there several people over time that God brought into your life?
• What were some of the events surrounding your salvation? Were you in a church? At a park?
• Do you have any stories that illustrate how God made Himself known to you?

Now that you have your testimony written down, you need to look for opportunities to tell others. Often people will give their testimony for the first time at a church meeting.  When going on a mission trip the individuals in the group are usually asked to share their testimony with others in the group or on the field where they are visiting. These are great opportunities to tell others what God has done for you. You are surrounded by friends who want to know more about God’s leading in your life.

Your friends and co-workers may be the first ones who see that there has been a change in your life. You might find it easy to tell them about the Lord because they are already curious. However, telling strangers about your salvation may seem a little awkward. Just remember the last time you got involved in a conversation with someone you had previously never met. Did you talk about the weather? Your favorite baseball team? We usually talk about things that are going on around us. Use that as an opportunity to steer the conversation so you can tell what God has done for you.

Be careful to avoid “church words.” These are the words and phrases we become accustomed to in the church, but the world has no idea what they mean. Remember each time you give your testimony that there may be someone in the audience who is unsaved. This is true even if you are telling your story in church. Keep your words easy to understand.

• What is a sinner?
• What does it mean to repent?
• You were convicted?! Of what crime?

Try to use normal vocabulary. Not everyone has the same background and experiences you have. Take time to answer any questions that come up about the Lord. Not everyone will get saved the first time they have the Gospel presented to them. It is our privilege to tell others about our salvation, it is God’s responsibility to draw them to Himself.

Reading books like Ray Comfort’s God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life or Charles Ryrie’s book, So Great Salvation, will help you understand your own salvation in a clearer way. These books can help you define, in simple terms, what salvation means to your friends.

Sharing your Christian testimony is important. By writing it out and sharing it with your friends, you will soon become bold enough to tell complete strangers about your Savior.

I am reading through the book of Deuteronomy and notice that in my notes it is a book that I tend to skip over (I keep a record of how many times I have read each chapter in my Bible). Apparently it is one of those books that I neglect more than I should.

However, I am actually a little surprised by this revelation. When I flip through my Bible I have lots of verses in Deuteronomy underlined. I also have notes in the margin of what God has taught me while reading through the book. If I didn’t know how many times I had read the book in comparison to the rest of my Bible, I would have said that it looks as equally used as any other book.

The book of Deuteronomy is filled with great verses that you probably know if you have been in church any length of time. It is not an obscure book. It is quoted from many times in the New Testament.

Following are a few verses from a 5 chapter span of the book that you probably already know or are familiar with.

Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Deuteronomy 8:3b “…that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”

Deuteronomy 10:12, 13 “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:”

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”

The book is made up of four sermons preached by Moses to the people of Israel before they finally entered into the Promised Land. These are the sons and daughters of the men and women who came out of Egypt. Much of the book is a re-telling of the history of Israel so that the current generation would know how God had led them in the past. Chapter 5 is a complete restatement of the the Ten Commandments.

What about your copy of Deuteronomy? Has it been neglected for too long? Take some time to read the Word of God as told through the mouth of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.