
Throughout history and even today, our Heavenly Father has continually revealed Himself and His boundless love through the resurrection power of Jesus and the enlightenment of His Spirit and Word. Using various means and forms of communication, He reaches out to people.
Those who, with eyes to see and ears to hear, respond by surrendering their lives to Christ, entering into a new, divine relationship where He is their Lord, and they are His people. Their lives are forever transformed.
Being witnesses for Christ is central to Jesus’ Great Commission (Acts 1:8). Interestingly, Jesus never called His disciples to be His lawyers to defend Christianity through theological arguments. Instead, the job of a witness is to provide firsthand testimony. Our personal stories of Jesus, together with stories from other members of the Body of Christ, serve as tangible and visible reflections of God’s glory. Through His Body, His light shines into a world of darkness, just as Jesus radiated God’s glory and revealed His Kingdom on earth.
These personal experiences, shared as testimonies, reveal to the world who Jesus truly is. They serve as powerful evidence of the transformative power of the Gospel. Our lives in Christ are like letters from Him to the world —written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Personal stories by firsthand witnesses, such as “I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25), render theological arguments for or against Christianity unnecessary. Our testimonies reveal His presence—that is the power of stories.
Three Essential Ingredients for Effective Storyteller
Stay in Close Fellowship with Jesus
A good storyteller begins by cultivating a deep and personal relationship with Christ. Each disciple is first called into fellowship with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9), and from that fellowship, our faith in Him inspires faith-driven action. When we surrender control and allow God’s mighty hands to take over, His presence and glory become evident in the everyday moments of our lives. These experiences qualify us to be His witnesses, sharing firsthand testimonies of His faithfulness.
As we walk with Him as Lord, our encounters with His nature and character become the foundation of our stories. No one can truly bear witness for Christ without a vibrant, personal relationship with Him. Just as there can be no love stories without love encounters, there can be no genuine testimonies without divine encounters born out of an intimate relationship with Him.
Highlight Jesus as the Hero of the Stories
A testimony is a declaration of what God has done in the life of the witness. Jesus, not the storyteller, is the central character—the true hero of our stories. This clarity sets Christ-centered testimonies apart from self-glorifying accounts of personal success, breakthroughs, or achievements, including religious performances driven by human effort.
Through our stories, we ascribe to Him the honor and glory due His name, that He alone deserves. As listeners hear these stories, they learn about the nature of God—how He transforms impossibilities into realities for His glory—and encounter His mercy and grace.
In contrast, self-glorifying stories, which often focus on personal achievements or religious performance, shift the audience's attention to ourselves, the storytellers. These accounts risk robbing listeners of the opportunity to hear about God’s character and work, and as a result, they miss the chance to indirectly encounter Him through the testimony. Let our stories always point to Him.
By Faith, Expect the Kingdom Impact of Your Stories Multiplies
Trust the Holy Spirit to work through your stories to minister to and impact your listeners. Testimonies are not about seeking personal recognition or fame -- they are offerings to God. By faith, we believe the Holy Spirit will use them to establish Christ’s Kingdom on earth, inspiring others to step out in faith and experience transformed hearts and lives.
When we share our stories, we illustrate for listeners who God has promised to be in relationship with us. We reveal His unchanging character at work in our lives today, just as it was in the past. The ultimate hope is that through these testimonies, listeners may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing, find life in His name (John 20:31).
Be a Good Listener of Others’ Stories of Jesus
1. Beware of Attitudes That Blind You to God’s Work
Pride, jealousy, and comparison can blind us to the ways God is working in the lives of others. Instead of celebrating His hand in their stories, we may become distracted by inner voices of doubt, resentment, or skepticism. These attitudes can lead us to invalidate their testimony by questioning, “Who do they think they are?” or “If God didn’t do this for me, He couldn’t have done it for them.”
Such attitudes not only rob us of the joy of seeing God’s glory in others’ lives but also hinder our own spiritual growth. To fully recognize and rejoice in God’s work, we must guard our hearts against these negative emotions and embrace a posture of humility and gratitude.
2. Use Spiritual Discernment
When listening to others’ stories, approach them with spiritual discernment by asking yourself:
· Did it truly happen as described?
· Does this story align with God’s nature, character, and heart?
· Does it reveal aspects of God I haven’t experienced before, inspiring me to seek
Him more deeply?
· Does it prompt me to praise and worship Him?
· What is God speaking to me through this story? What is He inviting me to do in
response?
By reflecting on these questions, we can engage with others’ testimonies in a way that honors God, strengthens our faith, and deepens our relationship with Him.
I will never forget how my prayer partner’s story challenged my faith in Christ and took it to a new level. Her testimony was a powerful example of obedience to God’s call—starting an orphanage in Mozambique with nothing but audacious faith and total surrender. She shared how, in the face of impossible circumstances, God’s supernatural provision became undeniably real.
Her story confronted me with the limitations of my own faith and exposed a mindset of low expectations of God in my life —one that dishonored God by failing to fully recognize who He truly is and who is He to me. Her journey inspired me to reexamine my own path and embark on a new journey of faith with God, trusting Him in deeper ways.
That is the transformative power of stories.
3. Give Thanks and Praises to God who Does Great Things through His People
The work of God’s hands in others’ lives is sacred—precious pearls that should never be trampled on or dismissed (Matthew 7:6). Instead, we respond with gratitude and praise, thanking Him for His greatness. Celebrate His mighty works and give Him the glory due His name, worshiping Him in the splendor of His holiness.
Let their stories of God’s faithfulness inspire us to arise in faith, regarding the stories we heard as God's personal invitation to trust Him to work in our own lives, the same way He worked in the lives of the storytellers. As we do, the testimonies of others can become a spark that ignites our own firsthand experiences of His power and grace.
When the Body of Christ collectively submits to the Lordship of Christ, walks in the Spirit and the Word, and shares their stories as His presence on earth, the world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).
That is the transformative power of stories.
How about you? Do you have stories of God's glory you want to share such that its kingdom impact multiplies? Inviting you to contribute your stories to the KOE Soundbites - especially in the category of "His Glory in our Stories", by emailing admin@koe.community.
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© 2025 Copyrighted Material. All rights reserved by Joanna Ng and the KOE Community
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