Sharing the Story of Your Life

Each one of us has a life story.  Our stories include all of our experiences and all of the people who have been a part of our lives. Certainly, along the pages of our lives, there are people who for better or for worse have had a significant influence on our lives.

Like all stories, the pages that make up our lives are not just meant to be written, but to be read by others. The life and art of Christ-following is passed on, down the line, from person to person to person, from generation to generation. Christ-following is centered upon the content of the Bible.  Yet, the application of that content is absolutely learned in the trenches of everyday living.  Someone has talked to you and shared the story of their life and how Jesus is a part of it.  Someone has role modeled the Christ-following life for you.

When the apostle Paul said, “The things you have heard me say in the presence of witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others,” (2 Timothy 2:2, NIV,) I don’t believe he was just talking about passing along content. It was Paul who also said, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 NIV) It is through our lives that the truth the Gospel is made known to others, even as it has been made known to us.

While the stories of our lives are still being written, we are called to share them with others and to invite them to become a part of what God is doing in our lives and world.  You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts… Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 2. We are called to role model Christ-following to others: to the people who make up your world; to your friends, to your sons and your daughters, to those in your community and the fellow Christ-followers in your church.  Take a look. There are people all around you; some believers – some not believers yet, who are looking for authentic relationships; who are looking for truth; who are looking for what it means to live as a Christ-follower.  Through your friendship, you can be a tool in the hand of God to make an eternal difference in the life of someone else; to become part of the story of their lives; even as others are part of your own.
 
None of us has it all together – in terms of our Christian life – and none of us ever completely will – this side of heaven. The good news is that we don’t have to. God is still at work in our lives, in spite of all our weaknesses, and wants to use us as his tool in the life of someone else. He just needs our willingness to share our lives with others.

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