Three.Words.Story

Maybe the right words to share your faith story in a conversation come naturally to you. Praise God for that verbal gift! I am willing to declare that for most of us (including me), those words just don’t come easily. We don’t know where to start. We don’t know how much to say. We say too much. Frankly, I have not been in a church yet that stressed the importance of being able to share one’s faith story by actually EQUPPING EVERYONE to do it — including frequent opportunities to practice it! Why is that? How many hours do we spend practicing other things? But not this. Not “the word of our testimony” (Revelation 12:11). It’s YOUR story…edited by you, filtered by you, and told by you. You can tell it anywhere. So, when someone shares an easy way to put together something to share my faith story whenever the opportunity arises, I jump on the idea. EvanTell did just that in one of their monthly newsletters*. Ready?

How can you craft your personal testimony beginning with only three words?! It’s easy.

Choose your first word to describe your life, feelings, situation, thoughts, etc. before you placed your faith in Christ:

Consider one of these: Angry, Independent, Manipulative, Miserable, Hopeless, Empty, Addicted, Aimless, Restless, Striving, Confused, Insecure.
For example, you might choose the word “confused.”

Choose your second word to describe how you came to place your faith in Christ.

Consider one of these: Creation, Studied, Concert, Grew, Bible, Friend, Trouble, Observation, Evangelist, Spouse, Loved.
For example, you might choose the word “awakened.”

Finally, choose your third word to describe your life, feelings, situation, thoughts, etc. now that you have placed your faith in Christ:

Consider one of these: Approachable, Peaceful, Generous, Loving, Brave, Caring, Teacher, Mentor, Servant, Elder, Hopeful, Compassionate, Confident.
For example, you might choose the word “assured.”

Once you have your three words, you’re ready to come up with one or two sentences for each word. Just a brief explanation of how each word relates to your story.

Here’s an example:

“Although I believed in the existence of a God, and even knew the story of Jesus, I didn’t fully understand how it all fit together. I was confused about the nature and character of Jesus as God, and how He had provided a way for me to be reconciled to the very Creator of the universe!

Through a series of conversations with new Christian friends in college, as well as exposure to some Christian music with meaningful lyrics, I came to understand Jesus as Savior. I was awakened to the reality that Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead.

Now I am assured that through my trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, I have an unbroken relationship with the very God who created the universe and everything in it. This relationship is for eternity and my life with Him will not end when my time on earth does.”

Remember: 3 words + 1 or 2 sentences per word = 3–6 sentences to tell your story. How simple is that!

You can also watch how to develop your 3-word story via YouTube video. I made my 3-word story into a short video that you can watch here.

Now you know how, let’s all just DO it!

*Adapted from ”Create Your Own 3 Word Testimony” developed by evantell.org.

Read or listen to “Connect: Prepare to Share Your Faith Story” and “Connect: Prepare to Share the Gospel Facts.”