Always Learning: My Very Boring Testimony

Sunday, January 12, 2014

My Very Boring Testimony

My testimony is boring. I was raised in a Christian home with Christian parents. I always loved Jesus. I never rebelled from Him. I knew He was alive and well in this world and living inside of me. I went to a Christian college and married a Christian man. I attended church my whole life.

Together, we raised Christian children. I took them to Awana almost every week of their growing up years {even though I was as sick as a dog with millions of parasites} because I wanted God's Word deeply hidden in their hearts. My children attended church all their lives and all walk with Jesus. They are all marrying Christian spouses. My testimony is boring, or so I thought.

I am so thankful for my life now. I am thankful that I can relate to Paul's words to Timothy, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." II Timothy 3:15

Elizabeth Elliott spoke in our chapel at Westmont College. We went to chapel almost every day of the week for all four years I attended. I only remember one line in all those chapels I attended. It was when Elizabeth said, "If you were to make a list of all your blessings and you were raised in a Christian home, that should be the top blessing on your list."

I was blessed. I was born into a Christian home. Born to parents who loved Jesus and went to church every Sunday. They never criticized the preaching, the singing, or anything about the churches we attended. They were always faithful to their church, loving the people, and being involved. I was blessed.

If you were raised in a Christian home, you were blessed also. Jesus is the light of the world. He came to set the prisoner free. This world is in bondage to sin and to Satan. We are not. We are free. Free to live holy lives. Free to love and serve others. Free to be submissive to our husbands and free to raise godly offspring. Hallelujah! We are free.

However, if your life is filled with a lot of regrets and rebellion against God's ways, God's grace is sufficient to cover your sins and redeem your life. He freely offers forgiveness from guilt and condemnation. All He asks of you is that you believe!

Comments (33)

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FABBY · 585 weeks ago

Than I am also blessed, my husband and my girls...we were ALL raised in Christian homes...WHAT A BLESSING MY FRIEND.!!! I'd say, hardly a boring testimony!
Bless you Laurie.
FABBY

1 reply · active 449 weeks ago

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Karen · 585 weeks ago

Isn't your saying, "My testimony is boring, and " I was raised in a Christian home with Christian parents. I always loved Jesus. I never rebelled from Him. I knew He was alive and well in this world and living inside of me." a rather large oxymoron? My daughter (age 20) and I discussed what a 'testimony' is when she was getting ready to go to Africa on a mission trip. I told her you don't need an 'Aha!' moment to 'have a testimony'. Everyone got up to give their 'moment I accepted Christ as my Savior.' Neither she or I have one. Jesus has always been a part of me. No exact moment of 'accepting Christ'. And I wouldn't call that boring! :)

1 reply · active 585 weeks ago

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angela · 585 weeks ago

I guess I'm a little confused. I thought you had said that your marriage was not good until ten years ago. Was Christ the foundation of your marriage up until that point? Or could that be part of your testimony as well? Maybe I look at "testimony" differently? Blessings~~angela

6 replies · active 584 weeks ago

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KML · 585 weeks ago

We shared our testimonies in my community group recently. A few of us had "boring" stories, while others had stories all across the spectrum. Our leader stopped one of us who was raised in the church and said, "You have the kind of testimony we pray that our children have." That put it into a whole different light for me. Praise God!

1 reply · active 585 weeks ago

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Jill York · 585 weeks ago

I was raised in a Christian home, accepted Jesus as my Savior at age 6, and know nothing else but attending church 3 times a week. I am truly thankful for my Christian Heritage and God's work in my life.

1 reply · active 585 weeks ago

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Cynthia Swenson · 585 weeks ago

Our salvation is a "gift from God, that no man should boast" & is by faith alone. No matter our past, we all are completely dependent upon God's grace for forgiveness of sins, & that by the blood of Jesus that atones for our sins. That being said, I've often wished for a "boring testimony" & have even spent some time in self pity for some of life's issues that were beyond my control. However, God continues to reveal that He has done amazing things in my life & I should be totally thankful, because He uses it ALL for His glory. He really does give us "beauty for ashes"! I am thankful for everything God has done for me! Love & prayers, In Jesus, Cynthia

1 reply · active 585 weeks ago

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Ken · 584 weeks ago

God's plan is to create a family of those who will trust and believe in Him. His wants as many of His children as possible to grow up in a Christian family and keep their faith glowing throughout their lives, passing it along to the next generation.

God does not exclude anyone from the invitation to believe in the Lord Jesus and to be saved, but the Christian family is the primary building block of the church, and it is truly a privilege to have a boring testimony where one walks faithfully from an early age and throughout their lifetime. Many more should have such a boring testimony :), but for our own sinful desires to taste what is evil.

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Charlotte · 584 weeks ago

What is Awana?

1 reply · active 584 weeks ago

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michelle · 584 weeks ago

I was not raised in a Christian family far from it.. My blessing is that the Lord choose me and guided me thru the ups and downs of becoming his child.

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helen · 584 weeks ago

I too was brought up in a Christian home with parents who taught us to pray, guided us, sometimes very strictly!, and who talked about Jesus and God as everyday things. I used to think this was a boring testimony too Lori, but since getting older I realised just how blessed I have been!. Some of us have a dramatic conversion testimony (like my husband), and some of us came to a gradual realisation that Jesus was our Saviour and Lord, both are valid.
Psalm 145 says 'One generation will declare Your works to the next'. That is such a blessing and is what happens when we are brought up in a Christian family.
Blessings to you Lori
Helen UK

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bluecottonmemory 55p · 584 weeks ago

I understand growing up with God - no big conversion moment here - but always but growing moments where God took our relationship further. I grew up in a broken home,though. Some of my boys are like you and me - no big conversion moment but a lot of faith walking. One of the, though, took the hard path - couldn't think I understood because I'd never rebelled - but God so does love the rebel. I've been in church with families whose children never strayed, never rebelled. I don't know how they did it - and what a blessing to have a happy nest like that. You are so blessed:)

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shannon · 584 weeks ago

Mine is pretty boring as well. Grew up going to church, praise the Lord, and was saved and trusted in Christ for my salvation when I was seven. I think the commenters above may be confused that you are just sharing your SALVATION testimony- that salvation happens in an instant and after that we are forever growing as Christians. My salvation testimony is boring but I've had many times in my life since then the Lord has drawn me back to him- like the prodigal son I had wandered away but was still his "son" because I was saved. Heres hoping my own children will have a boring testimony too!

1 reply · active 584 weeks ago

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nancyhsturm 17p · 584 weeks ago

I was not raised in a church-going family, but was raised by believers. Praise God my children were raised as Christians, as are my grandchildren. Thank you for this gentle reminder of our many blessings and the grace of our God.

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lauraboggess 49p · 584 weeks ago

I have heard others bemoan their "boring" testimony. :) I must agree with Elizabeth Eliot. What a blessing. Your life is a gift, an example and great story. I'm thankful for your sharing.

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Kristin · 584 weeks ago

I'm curious about your "millions of parasites" comment. What were your symptoms, and how did you get rid of them?

3 replies · active 584 weeks ago

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Sylvia R · 584 weeks ago

Waited to leave this comment, Lori, until now. Had to think about this.

Indeed it is such a blessing to grow up in a truly Christian home, with guidance in the right direction, toward God. But what I want to hear in any Christian testimony is not what a person or their parents have done but "what great things *God* has done."

I'd like to see a part two, a testimony of what *Christ* has done in your life. Whether one grows up in a right-living household or a sin-filled one, if Christ is now one's life, surely He has done great things in it, and that's what people need to hear. I realize it can be easier to see Him at work in extreme dramatic changes, but what Christ does in our lives, even long after we first accepted Him, even in the "small" and hidden areas no one else might see, is, to me, never boring. It is His obvious involvement in the small stuff of my little life that really knocks me over with astonishment. Telling about any of those things is far-from-boring---and Christ-focused testimony.

1 reply · active 584 weeks ago

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