The Presidential election
Police riots
Terrorist attacks at home and abroad
Wars and rumors of wars
Economic turmoil
It doesn’t take more than a few minutes of watching the news to make you feel anxious and wonder, “Is there anything we can do in such tumultuous times?”
If you don’t trust that God is in control and has a plan, the bare facts can be absolutely terrifying.
Then we zoom the lens a little closer to home and see:
People losing loved ones
Receiving bad medical reports
Families in crisis
People losing jobs or drowning in debt
When it hits this close to home the picture turns from terrifying to heartbreaking and we wonder, “Is there anything I can do?”
Pondering this question in my own heart I’ve come to the conclusion the greatest tool that we have to change the world is the power of our personal testimony.
The truth is that you can put a Trump sign in your yard or you can put a Clinton sign in your yard, but neither one will influence your neighborhood as greatly as your personal testimony of a life that was changed and revolutionized by Jesus Christ.
There is nothing more powerful than the testimony of a changed life.
We see this exhibited in one of my favorite stories in the Bible: the story of the woman at the well in John 3.
You see, when we first meet this woman at the beginning of the chapter, her life is a mess. She’s had a sinful past and everybody knew it. Because of her past, she was an outcast from society basically trying to avoid everybody.
Then she had an encounter with Jesus that changed her life.
If you read through the chapter, you’ll see that Jesus talked her through abandoning religion and moving into a personal relationship with Him.
Then He gave her a choice, “Do You Want What I Have to Offer?”
Her decision changed her life. That’s when we see the most amazing thing happen.
The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
John 3:28-29
Here’s the good part:
Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!
You see it was this woman’s testimony that changed her town.
Because she was willing to share her testimony, including acknowledging her past, many of the Samaritans in her town believed in Jesus.
Yet none of these people would have come to Jesus, had it not been for the woman at the well’s willingness to come out of hiding and share her testimony with the other people.
What had once been her shame, was now her testimony.
From her testimony sprang a community of people who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. In a few years, this community was probably the basis of the church in Samaria. It all began with one woman who was desperate for a change and received that change from Jesus.
Today, the question that each of us has to answer is: Will we follow her example?
Because the truth is that God didn’t just save you, adopt you into His family, and make you into a new creation exclusively for your benefit.
Yes, He did it because He loves you and wants what is the absolute best for you, but He’s also working in your life, changing you into a new creation so because He deeply and passionately loves the people in the world around you.
He wants to use YOU to introduce them to a personal, life-changing relationship with Him.
Ultimately, that’s the only way that society has even a chance of changing---as we, the church, start reaching people one heart, one home, one person at a time.
God has bigger plans for your life than just making you comfortable.
He wants you to play a role in influencing and changing the world around you.
He wants to use you to touch hurting hearts, to bring people to Him, to help mend families, and restore broken lives.
He wants you to learn His Word so that after it has changed and revolutionized your life, you can then teach His Word to others saying, “This is how God changed my life. I used to struggle with all of these sins and heartaches, but these principles in God’s Word set me free. Because I obeyed the Bible I have joy, peace, courage, strength, and hope in my life.”
You might say, but how do I do it?
Simply be honest about your life.
Be open about the difference that Jesus has made.
Live a life worthy of your calling and people will see a difference. When they ask “What happened?” answer:
“Because Jesus loved me enough to die for me, I love Him enough to obey Him. As I started obeying His Word, I began to change. The joy, the peace, the confidence, the difference that you see….it’s because of Him.”
