Faith Story Number 4: The So What Story

One challenge to shortening a personal testimony is to get at this core question:

What difference has Jesus made in your life?

This is the “So what” story that is unique and personal to you.

It is easier to see an example than it is to describe.

Check out this video (shared here as well)

More than one So What Story

What difference has Jesus made in your life?

This question is not only applicable for the moment of your conversion.

Even if you grew up in church and always knew that you were a follower of Christ, there are examples of transformation in your life.

The So What story also applies to the ongoing work of the Jesus in your life by the Holy Spirit.

For example, I have been a follower of Jesus since 1985.

I was a 15 year old teenager that didn’t have a lot of life experience.  I grew up in a healthy household with parents who loved me.

There have been marvelous works of transformation in my life.

• Forgive a severe betrayal when I was in my late 20s
• A sense of purpose and destiny.
• Healing damaged emotions for hurtful events.
• Creation of a healthy marriage.
• Adventures in living into God’s will for my life.
• Despair transformed to gratitude and hope.

The So What Story has a simple outline

These stories have a basic before / after outline.

They are snippets that describe

• Who you were before and who you are now.
• What life was like before, and what life is like now.
• What emotions you had before, and how they have been transformed.
• The wounds you had in the past, and how they have been healed.
• The addictions you struggled with and how you are experiencing victory now.

Before I met Jesus for the first time, I was searching for unconditional love.

Before I followed Jesus, I had no direction in my life.

Before I allowed Jesus to bring healing to my emotions, I lived in patterns defined by those experiences.

After I met Jesus, I found unconditional love.

After I followed Jesus, I found direction, purpose, and hope.

After I allowed Jesus to touch those wounded places, I experienced a indescribable joy and wholeness and new life.

You see them in the video above and in this video below.  As I watched this video, I was struck by the power of the cross.  Real lives changed by a real Jesus.

Can you reduce your testimony to two sides of a poster board?

Take the “So What” Story a Step further.

The two videos above capture the essence of a “So What” Story on two sides of a piece of cardboard.

What if you could reduce it to two words as in the video below:

I’ve experienced this life transformation first hand.

The label that Jesus changed for me:

• Aimless to Directed
• No Purpose to Purpose
• Unable to Love Correctly to Beloved
• Ignorantly Lost to Gratefully Found.

The So What story also answers this question:

Why is Jesus precious to you?

Jesus may be precious to you because He has forgiven you.

Jesus may be precious to you because He is guiding you in this life.

Jesus may be precious to you because He has healed you.

Jesus is Pastor, Savior, Friend, Healer, Redeemer, Friend, Bread of Life, Lord of All.

What image of Jesus speaks to you most deeply?

I bet there is one image of Jesus that speaks to you more than all the others.

That can help you answer the question that my friend Easum has asked:

What is it about your relationship with Jesus that your friend can’t live without?

What was your “So What Story”?

In the comment field, give a short summary (no more than 10 words) of the label transformation that Jesus worked in your life?

The Faith Story Series:

Resource

Of what value to you is your relationship with Jesus?

The more I explore the depths of that value, the meaning of that word, I notice something bubbling from inside of me.

I want to tell somebody.

Start here with this MP3 Download on Evangelism Training from the store ($10) to help you see where you need to grow.

It’s a 80 minute audio file that takes just a few minutes to download, but it may help you answer the question:

What can you do in the next 90 days to grow in your evangelism skills?