Why Your Testimony Matters

Recently, I published a quote from a book that I’ve been reading. That quote said, history is won by those who tell the best story. Now, for some that quote may sound confusing. You might think, how can history be won? What that quote pointed out is this — what may be said in history books may be factually inaccurate. Truth is, history is a story and that story may or may not have elements of truth in it. Even in the word itself, it says, “story”, which was originally meant to be His story. That’s why I want to ask you: Are you telling His story of what He’s done in your life — your testimony? That story, your story, desperately needs to be heard, and the only person who can adequately tell your story is you. In other words, your testimony matters. That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.When I think about every person who has ever been on earth, and the countless believers who have lived and seen God work in their lives, I have to wonder, Why did so few write down their testimony? Maybe, I thought, it’s because writing is hard for some people. But there are ways around that issue. So, it can’t be that. Then, I thought, maybe, it’s because people don’t have enough time. But that can’t be the issue, for everyone receives the same 24 hours in a day and numerous people were able to write down their story in the time they had. So, it can’t be that. Then, I thought, maybe, it’s the technology — people didn’t have access to the tools to write. And while I think that was the case, still the tools existed. Lastly, I thought about literacy, maybe, it’s because people were illiterate. And while I think that may have been true for many, that issue was resolvable. In reality, I think the truth is, people, especially believers, don’t value their own testimony.   

Often, out of a false sense of humility, we like to downplay our own story. We don’t want to embellish what we say to puff ourselves up. At least, I think that’s how many people see it. Rather than telling their story, they downplay their story. And I believe that false humility has left a huge whole in our collective history of stories that were never told of what God did. History has been lost because it wasn’t written down. Even today, as I think back, I know very little about my own family history. I know about my mom, my stepdad, my grandmother, and my grandmother’s second husband, but there are huge gaps, details that I’m unaware of. An example of this is my stepdad’s story, he grew up going to brush arbor meetings with his grandmother — real revival services. Further, he would travel to various churches to sing the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t know his story until a couple of years ago. His story would’ve been lost had he not told it to me. And I wouldn’t be sharing it here, right now.

“History is lost when the story isn’t told.”—Scott Wallis

So much history lost, so many testimonies not told, so many families who never convey their full story to their progeny, all lost in time, all untold because they didn’t value their story enough to tell it. When we fail to tell our story, we leave a gap in the future of our children of what they don’t know because they’ve never heard it. Truth is, most people don’t value their own testimony the way they should. The scripture plainly says, “they have defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” Revelation 12:11, NLT. Is it possible that the enemy is the one stealing our testimony by causing us to undervalue it? Is our testimony really that important in overcoming Satan? According to the Bible, yes, it’s that important. As such, we should value it, share it, write it down, and convey it to our progeny.

Is it possible that the greatest spiritual warfare isn’t the present tense battle over what we face right now, but it’s over our own testimony — the story we share or rather that we don’t share? Yes, the Devil has been able to steal countless testimonies from us because we haven’t valued them. Nevertheless, the truth remains — we overcome him, Satan, by not only using the power of the blood of the Lamb to obtain the forgiveness of sin, but by declaring, sharing, telling, and writing down our testimony. How many people were needlessly defeated by the Devil because a father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, or other family member failed to share their story. History is written by the stories that are told. And history is lost when that story isn’t told. In other words, history belongs to the storyteller. 

Dear believer, pastor, church leader, minister, parent, friend, I have a word of wisdom for you today — share your story. The untold story is never heard, it’s lost. And we are all the lesser for it. Your testimony matters — to you, your progeny, your friends and family, and others you may not meet in this life. In truth, your story is waiting to be heard. But no one, and I mean no one, can tell your story like you. And it’s time for you to share it. Write it down, make time to do that, share it, speak it, declare it, for your testimony matters, and it will matter even more if you, yes you, record it. Your future family will be thanking me for writing this post for you, and they will be thanking you for reading this post and doing what I’ve said in it. Your story, your testimony matters. Share it!

Let Us Pray!

—Scott Wallis