Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.

1 Peter 3:15 (CEV)

You may have heard of the five-minute elevator speech. It is often used to pitch a product or idea to the boss. He doesn’t have much time so you better spit it out fast but enthusiastically and make your point so he will buy it.

One of the ladies in our Bible Study challenged us to share our testimony with each other. One reason was so that we could get to know each other better and the other reason was so we could give an answer to a friend or acquaintance about why we put our faith in Jesus. We decided to see if we could do it in five or so minutes.

It has been an outstanding success. Each testimony is so different yet all have pointed to our Savior and we have gotten to know the person better. We have two more to go and one is mine.

I dread this kind of thing. I’ve had to do it over the years in different groups and sometimes I feel like mine is so boring, particularly in my early years. I had listened to other leaders share their gripping stories. I was just a young mother from a Christian family, involved in church and Bible Study Fellowship when I first gave mine. Nothing inspiring about it.

But the teaching leader put her arm around me and said, “Gerry, that is the testimony we wish for all of our daughters.” It completely turned around the way I viewed my heritage and upbringing.

This week will add forty years to that story and I will be able to share that God is a God of second chances. There have been both ups and downs, expectations and disappointments…but God.

My five minutes may turn into seven but I want to share the ways that I have seen and know that God is in control of my life. He is the one who makes the difference and gives me hope.

Take a few minutes and think about your testimony. Be ready with your answer. It may make all the difference to someone you meet.