Why Christians Should Have a Powerful Testimony

I see a lot of my friends tell me that they started going to church and perhaps stopped a bad lifestyle habit like habitually getting drunk. (There's nothing wrong with having some drinks, by the way; I'm talking about routinely getting wasted as a crutch to try to suppress what is actually some emotional hurt, which is an illegitimate use of alcohol.) They might say, "Things are good; I started attending church and stopped drinking."

And that's a great first step.

But fast-forward some time later, and the whole church thing fizzles out, or they are still going to church, but they're just going through the motions. There's no excitement, no transformation, no powerful testimony about beating depression, anxiety, fear, addictions, unresolved anger, unforgiveness, or all of the above. There's no zeal. It's just...well, church on Sundays and some social media posts about scripture. It's a lukewarm Christianity, which is an easy trap to fall into. 

It's so easy to reduce Christianity to an empty ritual devoid of passion. It should never be about a check-list of dos and dont's, which is what a lot of people think Christianity is. 

Similarly, it should never be about simply attending church to get a sermon or reading the bible. It misses the point. That's information. For perspective, a person can spend decades learning information about the bible by going to church but never experience God, never even know God, and certainly never experience transformation. 

They just spend their lives playing religion on Sunday, looking the part outwardly, but their hearts, minds, and lives never change. But once you truly experience the power of God and apply it to your life, you marry information with application, and you will experience a radical transformation.

Let me say this another way. If you are investing in the Word of God, eventually, you should have a powerful testimony about how it has transformed and revolutionized your life. And when someone experiences this power, they cannot help but tell others about it. There's a big difference between sharing religion with others and sharing the power of God with others. 

We all deal with being plagued and even imprisoned by past hurts, present problems, fear about the future, discouragement, discontentment, bitterness, unresolved anger, anxiety and worry, depression, excessive spending or eating, addictions, and other emotional and psychological issues.

These emotional strongholds affect how we experience each day, that is, how we experience life, especially in our relationships with others. With that, our thought life is paramount because our thoughts control our emotions, and our emotions can control our actions. 

The battle is in our minds. 

I want to be clear that the Word of God can take all that discontentment, addictions, fear, depression, unforgiveness, and so much more and remove it. The Word of God can take a person who is paralyzed in their life today because of past hurts, disappointments, and trauma and make their life so good that they won't even be able to remember the past hurts anymore. They will be washed away. 

And more to the point, God's Word can restore and heal. It can cure addictions that have had a death grip on you for your entire life. It can breathe life into your relationships as well as your body. To that end, it can take a clinically depressed person and cause their heart to overflow with joy and vitality.

People can argue theology all day. But nobody can argue with me regarding what the Word of God has done for my life, heart and mind, and spirit and soul. 

So, going to church and reading the bible are essential, but if that's all you have to say about the Word of God's effect on your life, then you are not experiencing a genuine relationship with Christ. There is power in the Word; it's alive. God created us. He knows all about discontentment, hurts, resentments, anger, anxiety, depression, and so on, and his Word exists so that we can have an abundant life, so we can have a great capacity to experience joy in our days, which will cause the blessings we receive to overflow into the lives of others. 

People think a beautiful wife, a big home, nice cars, a great career, and kids are blessings. They are wrong. One can have all of that and never really be able to enjoy it. In fact, those things can be a curse in one's life. There are fleeting moments of happiness associated with those things, but those emotions pass when life throws a curveball. Health, money, and other life circumstances will dictate one's joy or lack thereof. Being blessed is the capacity to enjoy money, success, a family, a nice home, and so on, and to experience joy in the face of life's inevitable hardships.

So, religion...I don't know anything about religion, nor am I a bible scholar. But I can tell you that God created us, and there are hidden treasures in his Word—truths and gifts that will give you an abundant life so that you feel full and whole, not empty and incomplete. When empty and incomplete, one is chasing joy in things not designed to yield sustained joy. They merely seek to distract themselves with busyness and entertainment. The years pass by. They grow old and sick and weak. Life ends. What a waste.

So there is no misunderstanding—my life is not problem-free. I still struggle at times with worry, anxiety, and anger. I have bad days, bad thoughts, and much more. But I go back to the Word (truth) and feed on it to combat those feelings. I repent, pray, and spend quiet time in the Word. 

But I have a powerful testimony about the revolutionary effect God's Word has had on my life. And God's grace fills me with gratitude. And living a life full of gratitude—because of God's goodness—is the secret to life. 

Don't ever underestimate what a heart full of gratitude can do for your life.