God wants to use our stories to reach others with His love, grace, and truth. But all too often, we get in our own way and limit what He is trying to do in and through us. Holley Gerth speaks to the power of our testimonies and the importance of sharing them with others.
“I love that verse that says, ‘we are overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony’ (Revelation 12:11). Really, ‘the word of our testimony’ is a fancy way of saying ‘our stories’. I think that verse is really saying that we overcome by what Jesus did for us and by telling that story.”
“I know when I hear a story of what God has done in someone else’s life, it strengthens me, gives me hope, and helps me take the next step.”
We start believing that our stories aren’t good enough; that they need to be more impressive or wrapped up with a nice bow. However God wants to use our stories as they are.
“There’s so much power in just saying, ‘This is my story. This is where I am today, this is where God had me yesterday, and this is what He has done for me.’ I think that’s a beautiful gift we can give each other is just to say, ‘Here’s my imperfect, glory-filled. God-given story.’ We all need to speak those and we all need to hear them.”
In our achievement-based culture, we end up trying to find our worth and value in what we do, rather than who we are.
“I think we all feel that pressure to prove our worth, but our worth doesn’t come from our work. What is small and hidden is often what is most valuable to God. That we can worship Him if we’re standing in front of a microphone, and we can worship Him if we are standing next to this microwave in our yoga pants with the dirty dishes in the sink.”
“I really needed some realignment in my own heart about that because I had just felt such pressure to perform and I put that on myself. I’m just kind of wired that way, but remembering that God wants our heart first, then our hands. We are loved because we are His, not because of what we do.”
As we align our hearts with Christ, we will be able to allow Him to work more freely in our lives for the benefit of others and the glory of God.
Holley Gerth is a best-selling writer, licensed counselor, certified life coach and speaker. She is co-founder of (in)courage, an online destination for women, which received more than one million page views in its first six months. She also reaches out to readers through her popular blog, Heart to Heart with Holley and through a partnership with DaySpring. She is author of .
Being a vessel for God
