We need to be very careful when giving our testimonies, as well as hearing or reading them. Even those found in the Holy Scriptures. They're for our learning, not necessarily for us to emulate. As an old divine once wrote, "We are to seek the apostles' teachings, not their experience." When we're told we should follow their example, it's generally in principle, not experience.
Throughout my long tenure as a gospel preacher I have both heard and read quite a few testimonies that would curl your hair, as the saying goes. I found in my own case as a young believer, when I gave my personal testimony, as the audience became more awestruck , like the "blow-fish," my testimony got bigger and bigger. The flesh loves to wow people, and it seems many want it so.
Acts has twenty-eight chapters and covers some thirty years. The Holy Spirit records Paul's testimony once, and the "chief of sinners" gives it twice, publicly. He mentions bits and pieces in his personal letters to churches and individuals, but not in its entirety. That means Paul gave his testimony publicly two times in thirty years. It was not for general public consumption, it seems.This gentle giant of a man was not in the habit of calling attention to himself, but the ONE who saved him.
My wife was saved as a child of nine, and never experienced the ravages of sin in her life. On the other hand, I lived a life of sin and debauchery for twenty-four years. People would flock to hear my testimony, but not hers. Yet, she had the greatest of we two.
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