MY RADICAL JOURNEY: 40 Days with The Purpose Driven Life

Message in a life

Day 37: Sharing Your Life Message

When I was single I felt I had nothing to share the world. Not even stories. But God in his munificence has given me so much since then that I now feel I actually have a storehouse of experiences to bring others into God's family. Now I realize that indeed I have a Life Message to share the world.

It is very kind of Warren to delineate in this chapter the parts of that Life Message for our understanding:

1. Testimony

2. Life lessons

3. Godly passions

4. Good News.

No. 1 is my favorite. This is where we tell others what our lives were before we met (or re-discovered) Jesus. This is also where we realized we needed Jesus. This is also where how we committed our lives to Jesus since then. And finally, this is where we declare to others what difference Jesus has made in our lives.

No. 2 is what we have learned from the experiences God has gifted us with. What has God taught us about failure, lack of money, pain or sorrow, illness, or disappointment? What have we learned from our families, relationships, Church, friends, and even critics/ enemies?

No. 3 is identifying and telling others our passions, the things we love and the things we hate. What do we care most about?

No. 4 is including the Good News of God, the Word of God as contained in the Bible and in the ministry of Jesus.

Bottom line is that we have to share our Life Messages in the form of stories. Stories are easier to listen to and less doctrinaire. Our audience would feel less threatened and less sermoned about in this way. St. Paul was a master in sharing his testimonies and see what he has done. We, too, can share our stories with others, especially the unbelievers and invite them to God's family. Even to fellow believers who are backsliding, we can help bring them back to God's fold.

In all this, I am reminded of the many painful experiences I have had and taken in the perspective of testimony for God, I am reminded as well of the Great Commission assigned to me by God to share His Good News. Because I have been pained and recovered, I must tell the others still in pain and afraid.