This past weekend our team had the opportunity to go to a conference focused on sharing our personal hope with our “cousins”. There have been few times I have been as blown away by our Father’s grace as I was hearing stories at the conference, and few times I have been as challenged to change my perspective as I was by the stories I heard.
One of my top takeaways was that I need to rethink how I share my personal testimony. So often when I have shared in the past I have focused on how the things I used to do were bad, or that I used to be a rebel, and now I know the Teacher and no longer act like that. But to a person who has for their entire life kept a law and followed rituals, abstaining from all things their culture perceives as immoral, why would that be good news? They don’t feel like I did before I knew the Teacher; their biggest concern is not with guilt. But, one cousin at this conference said, “If someone had told me I could have peace, I would have believed many years before…” When I heard that, I felt I had no choice but to rethink my approach to telling my personal testimony. For our Substitute has truly taken my shame upon Himself, and raised me to a seat of honor, and destroyed my fear, and given me peace beyond all understanding. How can I tell the testimony of His work in my life truthfully while focusing on those things?
Meditating on this has started to give me an even greater appreciation for His work on my behalf. He did so much more that bring me from guilt to innocence! It is truly amazing! And this is good news that can impact people’s lives!
There were many things that significantly impacted me during this conference--how to focus on trust relationships and honor instead of pushing people to be defensive, the essential meaning of the Kingdom, or how to preserve new brother’s relationships--but I wanted to share this. It is simple, powerful, and joy bringing for me. Maybe it will be for you too.
--Richard
Photo by Jessica F on Unsplash