I Swear to Tell the Truth
A witness is someone who testifies as to what they have seen, heard, or know by personal presence and perception. Before a witness testifies in a court room they are sworn in. This oath is to affirm that their testimony is the truth.
It goes like this, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.”
Being a witness can be scary. Testifying to what you saw may lead to someone being put in jail … but it’s the right thing to do.
In Acts 22:15, we’re called to be witnesses. We are to tell people what we know “by our personal presence and perception”. Being this kind of witness can be scary too. Paul was in jail when he wrote to Timothy and told him not to be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and sound judgement (2 Timothy 1:7).
Often when we think about being witnesses for Christ we get the image of someone standing on a street corner with a megaphone and a Bible preaching. Even if we’re not standing on a street corner with a megaphone, sharing our beliefs with non-believers can be scary.
Being a witness for Christ doesn’t have to be preaching.
I think that there are multiple ways that you can be a witness and testify. This can be as straightforward as living our lives in the way Jesus did. A true believer will desire to share with others what God has done for them. This can be as simple as being a friend and a good listener.
We should implement Christ’s way of living into our daily lives in the way we do business, the language we use, and how we treat others.
Being a good witness for Christ means we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.