Greetings

Hello and welcome to my blog. I only post essay sort of things like this--one-draft spurts of my thoughts on a particular subject.
God bless

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Lame Testimony Syndrome

This has been on my heart and mind for a while. Anyone who grew up in the church ever think that their testimony is "lame?" Like you were never addicted to anything or deep into any sin, you never had a rock-bottom experience to jar you from your sin. For some reason, we seem to think that these are the cool testimonies that people want to hear, but God's moving in people's lives is fantastic to hear from anyone. I am not trying to discredit more intense testimonies, but trying to encourage those who think that theirs is not worth telling.
God's mercy and grace are greater than we could ever imagine. Until recently, maybe a year and a half ago, I thought that my testimony was really boring and that no one would want to listen to it. I was saved when i was about 4 years old and have grown up in the church ever since then. At face value this is no where near as captivating as a testimony from someone who was caught in deep sin, but then I started thinking about it and I became incredibly thankful. When I realized that I have never really had to deal with anything on my own, God has always been there to help me. I may not have know this as well as I do now, but my understanding of it grows continually. I am grateful that God showed Himself to me at such a young age.
What I can share from my testimony I hope can be an encouragement to others who have Lame Testimony Syndrome (LTS). My story rests more in my growth with God than Him saving me from a wretched life of wastefulness and sin. This is not to say that I never sin, duh, everyone still sins i struggle with sin like everyone else, but my slavery to sin was much shorter than many. All of this time in Christianity has been great, but there are disadvantages. Complacency and arrogance are probably the most dangerous of the disadvantages. Taking for granted God's grace and providence is never a good thing. But more often, God's great love for me jars my complacency and breaks down my arrogance (always could be done more though Romans 7:14- 8:1 is a fantastic reminder).
My relationship with God has been a fantastic 13 years, He has always provided for me and lavished me with blessings. He never will leave me or forsake me. I will never be able to comprehend the sheer massiveness of God in this life, but I look forward to that day with extreme anticipation.
Those of you who think that you have a boring testimony!!! Don't think this way! If you are a Christian it is all part of God's plan for your life, don't ever think that He hasn't provided for you, please. Let us all encourage each other and continue to grow in our knowledge of God and His extreme affection for us. Please add comments or thoughts to this.
This passage comes to mind: Philippians 2 (NASB)

Be Like Christ

1Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

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