By The Word Of Their Testimony

Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

When many people share their testimony, they’ll usually testify about an isolated struggle or habit that God has delivered them from (drunkenness, drug addiction, lying, fornication, masturbation, pornography, etc.) But if they were to ever backslide, or give in to that particular sin again, they will suddenly feel as if they’ve “lost” their testimony. Perhaps they had been delivered for many years, but in the very moment when they fell back into the sin, it’s as if their entire record of ever being clean has been erased, or wiped out, and now they have to start all over again from scratch in order to build their testimony back up. **sigh**

But the main focus of your testimony should not be on how long you’ve been delivered from a particular struggle. The focus of your testimony should not be on how long it’s been since you’ve last committed a sin. Religiously  tally-marking, or keeping a score of your victories is a form of self-righteousness. Now, don’t get me wrong, being set free from a lifelong addiction is a great accomplishment and it is indeed praiseworthy, but that’s only an EXTENSION [fruit, by-product, part] of your testimony.

However, the CORE [meat, foundation, root] of your testimony is that you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord– it’s that simple. The core of your testimony is that your faith in Jesus Christ has delivered your soul from the curse of death and eternal damnation; that you were once lost in your sins but now you’re found in Christ; that you were once blind to the truth but God has now opened your eyes to see the glorious truth of the gospel; that you have hope in a risen Savior–that your Redeemer lives.

If you make this the core of your testimony, then even if you were to succumb to an act of sin, it will not destroy your testimony, or make it invalid. Your testimony will still stand that Jesus Christ has ultimately paid the price for all of your sins (the ones you’ve committed yesterday, the one you just gave into, and the one that you’ll probably succumb to tomorrow).

Your testimony is that although you may lose some isolated BATTLES against sin, it’s okay because the victory over the WAR on sin has been eternally secured for you on the cross through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior! You’re not just winning; you’ve already won!

In summary, don’t beat yourself up when you fall into sin. Jesus forgives. Don’t feel as if you’ve “lost” your testimony or that you have to start all over again. Nonsense. Just repent and pick back up where you last left off. Remember, nothing can undo what Christ has already done for you on Calvary. So boast  in Him and in His finished work, not on your own self-righteous accomplishments.