Everyone has a testimony...

I had what my husband calls "a download" this morning.

I know many people that have tremendous testimonies or stories, and I truly believe what it says in the bible:

Revelation 12:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

To that end, I love hearing stories of over comers. But here's the deal, I hear SO MANY testimonies. And each time I hear, I see the differences in where people are with their testimony. Each time I tell my own, I am at a different stage, with different parts, because I'm constantly being renewed, refreshed and sanctified.

But the Lord downloaded something to me this morning, and I wanted to share it with you. There are two roles in testimony sharing - the person sharing the testimony and the person hearing the testimony. Both roles have a responsibility and we must be aware of this, as there's multiple things to think about when you are sharing your testimony and maybe I'll make another post about that - but for now let's stick to this one.

When you share, it's important to think about where you are in your story and to BE HONEST about it. I hear so many testimonies that are not sharing in order to GLORIFY GOD, but are sharing in order to GAIN SYMPATHY because they have not yet passed over or overcame the hurt in their story. I don't believe that this is what the Lord desires. This is, I hate to say, manipulative and selfish, and if I were free of this myself, I would feel bad in saying it so harshly, but I can't in good conscience say I have never wanted someones sympathy when I shared. But it's important to maybe ask yourself this question before sharing.

Why am I sharing? Because I should not be sharing to get anything out of it. I should be sharing TO GIVE ALL GLORY TO GOD! And so should you - and I know some of you do - and you are the ones that inspire me...thank you! You are sharing from a humble heart attitude that knows God did this, this is God's story - not my story...it's his - ALL OF IT. And gosh I really need to do some self examination for myself on this one.

But there's more - the way the Lord brought this to me is by listening to the hurt and heart ache in another's story - and I started to take on that hurt and take on that heartache and the Lord said STOP. This person sharing has not overcome this, has not handed this over to me, has not shared from a humble heart, but is trying to manipulate you and others. Now I could have easily been upset with this person, but that's not what the Lord was trying to say. The Lord was giving me discernment to guard my heart, to guard my mind, to protect me from bearing a burden that was not mine to carry.

WOW - that's insight, that's wisdom, that's discernment.

I think we all need to think about this - we need to hear each others stories and encourage each other to share, but we also need to be alert and know that what the enemy may intend for bad - GOD intends FOR GOOD...so we have to let it all rest with him, He is the burden-bearer...He is the one that is meant to be glorified through all things.

So I pray today that you set down any story you've picked up and that you examine your story as well, like I said, I need to look at how/when I tell mine and what is my motivation? Ultimately is it for His glory or for my selfish needs?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Written 2/15/17