Testify – To bear witness, or more simply, to share our experiences. If a door is open, I am ok with testifying. The problem I have is that I do not want to offend the person to which I am speaking for fear of turning them off to my testimony. Because of this fear, I don’t like to testify if the “door” is only half open. I’m more likely to testify if the person opens the door all the way and then stands back with a wide grin saying, “Come on in!” Of course, how often does that happen? Even if I am talking with another Christian, one with whom I should feel safe, I don’t like to get to close to sensitive subjects: homosexuality, creation, husband/wife roles in marriage, etc. I just don’t like to offend. In short, I can testify, but I generally fail to do so because I am afraid.
I have another problem with testifying to others. I have come to the realization that testimonies are generally better received when the person you are sharing with is someone who knows you. Relationships usually need to come first. Then a little tact to get things going. Then the testimony. This need to build a relationship brings us back to the requirement to love, which we’ve established I don’t know how to do.
So, in summary of the last 3 days, our glorifying God is built into our relationships with others. We glorify him by loving others (which I don’t know how to), by serving others (which I can’t do), and by testifying to others (which I am afraid to do). Where does this leave me – miserable and wretched! But there is a solution, I do have hope, and that I will discuss next time.
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