A testimony is an eyewitness account of something. It influences the observer, and opinions are formed according to observations. All of us have a testimony, but what is our testimony saying? As a Christian, I want to have a testimony that points people to Jesus Christ. Paul states we are bought with the price of Jesus’ blood and we are not our own anymore. Therefore, we should act like the one that owns us.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
One situation I often think about when I think of personal testimonies is the biblical account of Lot. He was Abraham’s nephew. He knew about God and had probably learned many lessons from his uncle Abraham. Yet, Lot made many mistakes that led to the destruction of his testimony.
Lots first mistake was choosing his new home according to the lushness of it. There was a riff between the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot. Abraham gave Lot the choice of the land. Lot should have preferred his uncle above himself, but his desire for material things overrode his desire for spiritual things. He looked out, saw how profitable it seemed, and used that as his guide.
Lot moved to these well-watered plains and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Sodom was known for its wickedness and fixing his eyes in that direction cost Lot much in the years to come.
Genesis 13:12-13 “Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”
In Genesis 19:1, we read that “Lot sat in the gate of Sodom.” This meant that he was a man of political influence in Sodom. He seemed to get along well in Sodom – too well for a saved person to get along in such a wicked city. If we fellowship with the world and are accepted by them, we usually injure or ruin our Christian testimony with them. If there is no visible difference between us and them, there is no reason for them to want what we have.
As time progressed, we find God ready to pour His wrath out on Sodom and Gomorrah. They were wicked sodomites and God would no longer allow them to prosper. His wrath would be poured out as Heaven rained down fire and brimstone upon their cities. He revealed this plan to Abraham. Abraham begins to try to plead and bargain with God to spare the city.
Genesis 18:23 “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”
Abraham starts out by asking God if He can find 50, will He spare the city. God agrees, but there are not 50 righteous to be found. Abraham continues until he whittles the count to find 10 righteous. When there are not 10, God sends angels to warn Lot.
In Genesis 19:4-7, we see the men of the city, those given over to homosexuality, coming to Lot’s house, wanting Lot to send out the men that came to visit him. They did not know these men were angels sent from God to urge Lot to get his family and leave Sodom. Lot does one of the most ungodly things a father could do. He offers these homosexual men his unmarried daughters in place of the men they wanted.
It is obvious his relationship with God had not been maintained. Lot didn’t trust God to take care of the situation. When the vile men would not accept his daughters, they tried to break the door down to get to the men. The angels smote them with blindness to edit the situation.
Here is the sad part. Lot goes to warn his daughters that are married and he has no witness with them. His sons-in-law will not leave. They obviously don’t believe him. He had no godly influence on them. They would not leave, and Lot had to leave knowing his married daughters would die a painful death by fire. Lot had no witness with his own daughters and their families. He must not have been a godly man in the home believing and trusting God, as a godly man should. Why do I say that? His two daughters and wife left with him, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt after she had been told not to look back by the angels.
Genesis 19:13-15 “For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”
Even though Lot believed the angels he still lingered. The angels took hold of his hand, his wife, and the two unmarried daughters, and pulled them out of the city. His testimony was invalid to his family and therefore invalid to anyone else.
Genesis 19:16-17 “And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.”
What does your testimony say about your walk with God? Do the godless around you act differently when you are there? Do they apologize for words they use that are curse words? Do they change the channel when you walk into their home? These are a few of the things that should tell you what they think about your testimony and the influence you have on them. Don’t compromise your walk with God for the pleasures of the world for a season. It could cost you greatly. A question we must ask ourselves is if there is no visible difference “am I truly saved?”
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
