How to write your testimony
Everyone has a story. Everything that has happened to you to get you to today is a part of your story. The story of how you came to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is what is known as your testimony, and sharing it with others is perhaps one of the most powerful ways you can share your faith. Once they see how God has worked in your life, people may be more open to more conversations about who God is and how they can have a relationship with Him in the future.
Figuring out your testimony and how to share it can sometimes be tricky, but it’s not as difficult as you may think at first. Think of it like telling a story. Like every good story, it should have a beginning, middle, and end with the middle being the high point or climax. The beginning should focus on your life before Christ and how you came to recognize your need for Christ. The high point of your story should emphasize how you heard the gospel and your response to it. The conclusion should focus on the difference that Christ has made in your life. Here are some questions to ask yourself and reflect on as you go about writing your story:
Your Life Before Christ
- What are three words you would use to describe your life before Christ?
- What caused you to see the need for Christ in your life?
How You Heard and Responded to the Gospel
- Where did you hear the gospel when you came to faith? How was it presented to you? Why was it impactful?
- Had you heard the gospel previously? If you did, what made it make sense this time? What was different about it this time?
- How did the gospel speak to an area of need in your life?
Since Coming to Faith in Christ
- What has changed since coming to Christ? How would your previous descriptions of your life change?
- Where and how have you experienced God’s grace in your life (Ephesians 2:8–10)?
With all the information you pull from answering these questions, writing out your testimony will be much easier! People will be able to see what your life was like before knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior, how you came to accept Him, and what your life looks like now after you have accepted Him. Looking at it simpler, your testimony really answers those three questions: What was your life like before Christ? How did you come to know Him as your Lord and Savior? How has your life changed as a result?
Figuring out how to articulate your testimony and beginning to share it with others are great next steps of faith that any follower of Christ can take! If you have more questions about writing your testimony or want a little help with figuring it out, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Campus Pastor or our Next Steps Coordinator. We want to help you take this step in your walk of faith, and are excited to see how the Lord will use your story to impact others.
Download a testimony writing worksheet here.
How Hebrew Poetry Works
Rhyming Thoughts
While Western poetry often relies on metered rhyme (similar-sounding words), ancient Israelite poetry doesn’t follow a master system of meter or sound. Instead, its primary organizing principle is the parallelism of lines—essentially, biblical poets “rhyme” thoughts and ideas rather than sounds.
- The Heartbeat: Parallelism Parallelism is an “associative mode of thought” where two things are placed next to each other to show their relation. It assumes that to truly understand an idea, you need to grasp another idea that is both similar and distinct. There are three main types:
- Synonymous: The second line repeats the first using different words (e.g., “The heavens declare the glory of God; / the skies proclaim the work of his hands”).
- Antithetical: The second line contrasts the first, often using the word “but” (e.g., “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, / but the way of the wicked leads to destruction”).
- Synthetic (Progressive): The lines build on each other to tell a developing story or narrative.
- The Color: Imagery & Metaphor Biblical poems are “terseness” personified—they use fewer words than normal speech to communicate rich, imaginative experiences. To understand them, we must understand the ancient Israelite worldview. Common metaphors include:
- The Shepherd: Signifying God’s care, provision, and leadership.
- The Rock/Fortress: Representing stability, safety, and refuge.
- Unsafe Landscapes: Using deserts, storms, or waves to signify fear or tests of faith.
The Architecture: Structural Glue
The psalmists didn’t just write individual lines; they used sophisticated “structural glue” to organize their prayers into larger units.
- Stanzas: Groups of lines that form a distinct “paragraph” or unit of thought.
- Refrains: A phrase repeated at intervals, like a musical chorus, grounding the reader in a recurring truth during shifts in mood.
- Inclusio (The Envelope): This is when a poem begins and ends with the same phrase. These “bookends” signal that everything in the middle should be interpreted through that specific frame.
- Chiasm (Symmetry): A pattern where themes are repeated in reverse order (A-B-C-B-A). In a Chiasm, the “C” (the center) is the “hinge”—it is the most important point the author wants to make.
Our Language of Faith
Themes to Look For
As we dive into the Psalms together, use your reading guide to look for these six specific themes. These aren’t just categories; they are the “language of faith” that helps us trust in Jesus, become like Jesus, and do as Jesus did.
- Praise & Hymns (The Language of Adoration) These are songs of “orientation”—they recognize the right order of the world with God at the center. This language is used to express direct worship for who God is, not just what He has done. When we pray these, we align our hearts with the truth of His character.
- Lament (The Language of Raw Honesty) About one-third of the Psalms are laments—cries of pain, protest, and confusion. This is the language of “disorientation.” These psalms give us permission to bring our grief and anger to God. They remind us that God welcomes our honesty, and bringing our pain to Him is actually a profound act of faith because it assumes He is listening and He is the only one who can help.
- Petition (The Language of Asking) Petition often goes hand-in-hand with lament. It is the specific cry for help, protection, or intervention. Whether asking God to “wake up” or to “be a shield,” this theme gives us the words to express our total dependence on Him when we are in distress or facing injustice.
- Thanksgiving (The Language of Rescue) This is the language of “new orientation.” These psalms are the “before and after” stories of the Bible. They are prayed after God has delivered or rescued the psalmist. They move beyond general praise to specific gratitude for a concrete act of God’s faithfulness in time and space.
- Wisdom (The Language of Reflection) Wisdom psalms (like Psalm 1 or 119) invite us to reflect on how to live life well. They often contrast “two ways” of living—the way of the righteous who meditate (hagah) on God’s Word and the way of those who ignore it. This language helps us navigate the complexities of life in light of God’s instructions.
- Royal (The Language of Hope) Royal psalms focus on the King or the promised “Anointed One.” While they originally spoke of the Davidic kings, they point us toward the ultimate King, Jesus. This is the language of waiting and hope, looking forward to the day when God’s Kingdom fully arrives on earth as it is in heaven.
Reflect & Apply:
The 150-Day Challenge
Our challenge to you is to read one Psalm a day over the next 150 days.
Choose Your Journey
- The 150-Day Challenge: Read one Psalm a day for a steady, transformative experience.
As you read, use these three questions from your bookmark to guide your meditation:
- How should this psalm make you feel? Notice the psalmist’s raw honesty. What emotion is it designed to help you express to God right now?
- Where is Jesus? Many psalms come from someone waiting on God. What is this psalm waiting for? Does Jesus answer that wait, or did He experience that same wait Himself?
- Can you use this psalm to talk to God right now? If so, pray it! If not, “hide it in your heart”—you may need it soon.
Happy meditating (hagah-ing)!
Dive Deeper
Recommended Resources
If you want to go even further in your study of biblical poetry and the Psalms, here are some excellent resources compiled from our class:
Watch & Learn
The BibleProject has created several incredible video series that bring these concepts to life. We highly recommend checking out:
How to Read the Bible series: Includes specific videos on Poetry, Poetic Metaphor, and The Book of Psalms.
Read & Explore