Branch On The Vine

By: Alli Matthews

Life has been crazy lately, so I ran out of time to post a poem on Friday. Instead, I’m sharing an example of a 2 minute testimony – actually it’s my testimony that I wrote my sophomore year of college!

I hope it not only helps you figure out how to share your faith story with people but also that it reminds you that no one is too far gone for God’s love to come in and change their life. I smiled rereading this testimony because it reminds me how God delivered me from so much brokenness to serve Him with my whole heart. I’m still far from perfect, but I’m so so thankful for how much Jesus has changed my heart and life.

So without further ado, here is my 2 minute testimony:

I grew up in a home with Christian parents and accepted Christ as my savior at a Bible camp when I was nine-years-old.  It has been a blessing to be in communities that have encouraged me to have a relationship with God and have wanted me to be my best. 

However, I developed a dangerous idol in my heart that craved people’s praise more than living for the God of the universe.  This idol caused me to welcome sin into my life, especially the sin that won me the approval of others.  I would devote all my time to school and sometimes even cheat on my homework to get grades that would please my parents, teachers, and colleges.  I fell into sexual immorality with former boyfriends to ensure his happiness with our relationship.  I participated in the drunken party culture when I got to college to feel accepted by others. 

Although people might have been approving of me, their approval did not fill the emptiness of my heart.  When I got my first C on a chemistry exam, I felt like a failure.  When I recognized that I was deliberately rebelling against God’s design for a non-marital relationship, I felt lost and impure. When I woke up the next day after a night of drinking or smoking, I could make a list of the things that I wished I hadn’t said and done while I was trying so hard to make people think I was a “good time”.  The idol of pleasing people told me the lie that no matter what I did, I could never be enough for anyone, especially not for God.  This sin left me feeling hopeless and suffocated by guilt and shame because I believed that I could never meet God’s standards for my life. 

Yet God stayed by me through all of this sin and pain, continuing to love me.  He told me that my worth does not come from my successes, but it comes from his unconditional love for me.  God accepted me even when I would give into sin and when I felt dirty and broken.  He made me clean and whole with his forgiveness.  God encouraged me even when I would worry about my reputation after a night of partying.  God patiently poured his love and truth into my life to fill the cracks where vicious, damaging lies had festered.  God is continually working in my heart to tear down the idols, like people-pleasing, and building his kingdom of grace and truth in their place.

Through his word and through caring people who love the Lord, God proclaimed that He loves me and has a plan for my life.  The Bible says in John 3:16 that, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  This is such a powerful and liberating love!  Even though I have been in some terrible places because of my sin, God has redeemed me from perishing to grow in my relationship with Him.  I need to pray every day that the Holy Spirit would lead me because when I walk in the Spirit, I feel free to be who God created me to be.  This leads to so much God-given peace and joy in my life, even in the difficult moments. 

Ben Stuart said in a Breakaway podcast, “Your future will not be determined by your past. It will be determined by your union with Almighty God.”  This is life-changing news for all of us.  No matter what we’ve done in the past, God still wants to be in relationship with us and use us to bring glory to His kingdom.  We don’t have to be perfect people to be loved by God.  If we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we can rest in the peace and joy of knowing we have salvation. 

I invite you to learn more about what it means to know Jesus Christ as your savior and king because it will bring so much love and goodness into your life.  I will leave you with this question: how could your life change if you received forgiveness, mercy, and a new chance to do what’s right from the God of the universe?