Christian testimonials have become predictable in the church today. It seems as though every testimony that I have heard in my past, including my own, has had a prodigal child element. Most testimonies go a little something like this, “I once was a child that grew up in or around church but one day rebelled against God. After a spout of rebellion, maybe drugs and alcohol or even worse, I hit rock bottom and realized that I needed God in my life. From that moment on, I let God into my heart and started living for Him.” The end. Others start out with “I never knew God as a child or cared to know Him, but one day after living in sin for many years, I turned to God and surrendered my life to Him.
The prodigal son was a character in a parable Jesus told to illustrate how generous God is in forgiving sinners who repent. The prodigal son was a young man who asked his father for his inheritance and then left home for “a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” Later on, he realized his mistake, hit rock bottom, and returned to his father. Upon arrival, his father welcomed him with open arms and even threw a party on his behalf. The parable of the prodigal son is a moving example of the Father’s love and forgiveness for His children. Too many people today are taking this parable as a detour required for salvation instead of an example of God’s forgiveness when a person turns astray.
It’s not often that you hear a testimony about someone that was born, accepted Christ at a young age maybe at vacation bible school or somewhere like that, and then they lived for Christ for the rest of their life.
More often than not, it seems as though struggles must come before salvation can occur.
Too many testimonies revolve around the person and their struggles and not the purpose and the plan that God had for them. For about 30 minutes a person will talk about their wild rebellious attitudes, near death experiences, drug and alcohol abuse, and maybe even jail time or worse, then spend a brief 5 minutes telling the audience about how they accepted Christ and changed their lives. They never go into detail about the transformation or what happened after the fact, but instead they spend the majority of their time talking about them and not about Him.
Don’t get me wrong when I talk about this subject, testimonies are great when they are shared in the right way. Sharing your testimony with others is important because you can relate to other people in a way that not every person can; however, it is very important that your testimony is not mainly about you but its main focus is on Jesus Christ.
The bible says in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
There is a false belief going around that you must struggle tremendously before you can get saved. It is almost like being a ‘prodigal child’ is required for the Christian life. I have sat in bible studies with friends of all ages discussing their testimonies and the majority of them had a “prodigal son” element. In addition to that, I have sat in bible studies where I’ve heard others say, “I don’t really have a testimony because I was saved at a young age and didn’t go through a hard time, struggle with drugs, or rebel against God before getting saved.” In youth ministry multiple students implied that their testimony hadn’t been written yet because they still had to live before they could learn from their mistakes. They felt that without a rock bottom story they didn’t have a salvation story worth sharing. The sad part of that story is that some people won’t live through the trial they think they need to endure to make a good “God story” to tell others.
Living in sin and learning from your mistakes before getting saved is NOT a requirement for following God. Loving God and believing in Him is what is required.
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
Testimonies aren’t always about a person that ran from God, hit rock bottom, or struggled through a hard time before they got saved. Your personal “God story” can simply be, “I knew I was lost and I needed Jesus in my heart, so I prayed and became a child of God.” You don’t have to be an adult to tell your testimony after all the trials you have been through. Instead, you can be a youth, or even a young child, and share with others your love for Christ. Every testimony is important in the eyes of the Lord. Share your story and let God use you for His glory.
To those of you that have prodigal child testimonies just like me, I am not condemning you at all. Every testimony is important. Instead, I am sharing with you that we need to be careful when we present our testimonies to younger generations. This hits home with me, and I’ll be honest, when God gave me these words to write, I really felt Him stepping on my toes. There have been times where I have told my testimony and focused more on myself and my struggles than the One that held my hand through it all. The very first time I told my testimony I know I spent more time on me than telling others about Him. I learned from that experience and have made a point to let others know that all testimonies don’t have to be the same. It is a major lesson I had to learn but I don’t want people to think that salvation cannot occur without a struggle. When I finish telling my testimony, I don’t want people to remember me and my pain, I want them to remember God and His power, His plan, and His purpose.
The parable of the prodigal son in the bible was not meant to be an example of how your testimony should be; however, it was meant to show you that your Father will always be waiting for you with open arms. It is not a story that exemplifies that you should go out, live a little, then run back to your Father when you have nothing left; instead, it is an example of God’s love. We are not called to play tag with God and keep running back and forth until we finally feel that we need Him the most. We are called to follow Him, always.
When a child gets saved at a young age, adults often question if they are truly believers or not because they haven’t experienced enough to understand the depths of Christ’s love. However, the bible says in Matthew 18:2-4, “And He called to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom.” The faith of a child is strong because it has not been corrupted by the world. A child doesn’t have to go through hard times or experience pain to realize that he or she needs Christ; they just know and believe that they need Him in their heart. As simple as learning John 3:16 can teach a child that God’s love is stronger than any love we can ever imagine. It doesn’t take a tragedy to make John 3:16 real.
“For 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.” John 3:16
The bible says in Romans 10:11-13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” It doesn’t give you an age or a scenario of what you have to go through before you get saved, it only says ‘call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved.”
Romans 3:23 states, “For everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Again, it doesn’t state the extent of each person’s sin; it simply says ‘everyone has sinned.” No person is without blame before coming to know Christ as their Savior. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, death and sin entered the world. While teaching about Adam and Eve, I simplified the birth of sin by asking my class, “What type of babies do cats have? Of course they said kittens.” Then I followed up with “What type of babies do dogs have? As expected, they said puppies.” Lastly, I asked, “What types of babies do sinners have?” They sat there quietly for a minute then responded reluctantly, “sinners.” It is hard to imagine a tiny little baby being a sinner, but when sin entered the world, sinners began to birth sinners. Every person on this earth is born into a sinful nature with the ability to choose to stay in that position and live in sin or to turn from their sins and follow God.
Each person is given a chance to follow God, but if we are constantly bombarding people around us with prodigal child testimonies, eventually generations to come will believe that they can’t become followers of Christ without first experiencing a major struggle with addiction, near death experiences, or jail time. It is important for us to share Christ and the story He gave us, but more than that, He wants us to use our testimonies to lead others to Him and not mislead them with what their lives should look like prior to getting saved.
A child that gets saved at a young age may one day go through hard times and move away from God, but that does not make their salvation void. The bible says in Romans 8:38-39, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today not our worries for tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come.” When a person is saved, their old self is washed away by the blood of Christ and they become a new creation. A new creation can slip and fall away from Christ but His love will never leave them. This is not a free pass to do whatever you want and ask for forgiveness later, but it is a chance to realize that God is a forgiving God but expects His children to live for Him. As a parent loves their child, they want them to listen and obey, but at times they know their children will mess up. When the child disobeys the parent, they are disciplined in a way that gets their attention and hopefully prevents them from disobeying them again. God is the same way with His children. He knows you aren’t perfect but He expects you to try to be like His Son. When you fall away, He is still there waiting from you to return. He never stops caring for you, and He will discipline you when needed. As a follower of Christ, you will go through trials and mess up at times, but when you do, you will know that you have sinned and you will either return to your Father or live with your bad decisions and discipline that comes with it.
No one is perfect, not even a beautiful baby born in a corrupt world, but the Lord our God is waiting for you to hear His voice and run to Him.
If you were a young child that knew the truth in John 3:16 and got saved because you knew your God loves you, your testimony matters.
If you are an adult that has struggled through a life of addiction and sin, hit rock bottom, and finally ran back to God, your testimony matters.
To the youth that said they don’t have a testimony yet because they haven’t lived and learned, God is waiting on you to run to His arms.
Your testimony does not have to be a broken road. It is not a requirement to struggle immensely before getting saved. Whatever your testimony may be, let it shine for God’s glory.
Let your testimony be truth.
Let your testimony be a Light to others.
And let your testimony lead others to Him.
May God bless you and show you His grace every day!
-Kayla Rampey